Inlands at Leigh & Lowton - 2007
2007 Inland Championships at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club
The UK Inland Championships were held over the weekend of 27-28 October at Leigh & Lowton SC on Pennington Flash between Manchester and Liverpool. For those turning up early there was a training day on Friday.
There was a wonderful weekend's racing, closely fought throughout the fleet. Every decision on a gybe on the runs or a tack on the beats was a place gained or lost, and at every mark-rounding there was someone ready to pounce if you left a gap! The only thing that didn't seem critical was the start. Lots of people returned from early starts but still came out of the first beat well. Gareth Williams re-started several races - perhaps he was just giving the rest of the fleet a chance. With six firsts, he was the only one with a little bit to spare over the fleet, and it was a great performance by him.
Gareth Williams takes the Inland Trophy for 2007
(photo: Jenny Rogers)
Friday
Pre championship training led by coach Dave Woodhead gave the 10 helms in attendance a great opportunity to get used to the wind patterns on Pennington Flash. With practice over short courses and tight start lines, boat handling was the focus and having survived the gut buster exercise the fleet retired for a well earned meal.
Saturday
Saturday dawned with similar conditions to the training day, a light southerly breeze across the width of the water. The conditions did not make life easy for the race team, but some judicious course placement, putting the 2 loops of the trapezoid course in 2 bands of wind created by dips in the surrounding tree line meant the toe straps occasionally had to be called on. The short racetrack and true inland conditions led to tight racing with plenty of places changing hands over each race, the first mark always being a tight squeeze of boats. Defending champion Bess Homer, inland specialist Katie Mapplebeck, Europe newcomer Phil Bush and local sailor Gareth Williams all spent time at the front of the fleet during the 3 races on day 1, but local knowledge in the shifty conditions paid off with Gareth claiming the 3 bullets, Phil on 5 points and both Katie and Bess on 6 points in the overnight results.
In Race 1 Phil had a clear start at committee boat end leading at windward mark closely followed by Gareth and Bess but slipped to third somewhere along the way and ended up with a fight on the finishing beat to keep Richard Eagleton at bay. Bess held on for 2nd and Katie just failed to take 4th place away from Richard. Races 2 and 3 took place in light and fickle winds where Gareth kept Phil to 2nd and Katie pushed Bess back to 4th in both races.
Further down the fleet the conditions had kept things just as tight with everyone fighting their own battles. The promise of more consistent westerly breezes on Sunday tempted the fleet off the water leaving the Finns to complete a 4th race and get ahead of schedule, before enjoying a dinner from the world famous Ann’s pantry in the clubhouse.
Sunday
Sunday started with the fleet beginning to regret not taking the option of the 4th race the previous day - rain and a variable southerly wind were not tempting. However, just as ordered, as the fleet took to the water for the 10:30 start time the breeze settled to the forecast westerly and built, leaving a few sailors wondering if a flatter sail would have been a better choice, and even the sun put in an appearance.
With the course set for a beat the length of the water race 4 started with the first re-call of the day. Gareth, defending the committee boat end, pushed Phil over the line but, unsure if he’d pushed himself over as well, also returned, unnecessarily as it later transpired. The stronger winds saw Richard take his turn at the front end of the fleet with Katie and Bess while Phil and Gareth were still working hard to recover from the recall. Gareth took all 3 laps before passing Katie and Bess on the last beat. It looked like Richard had secured a podium finish until he sat on his mainsheet cleat leaving him pinned to the leeward side of the boat, resulting in a capsize, which allowed Phil through to finish in 4th place.
Race 5 and the re-call theme continued, this time Gareth returning correctly, along with Bess, Katie and Richard. This left Phil to escape off the front of the fleet. Gareth again set off in pursuit with Richard close on his heels. Phil then gifted Gareth his 5th bullet to secure the championship by setting off round the outside loop a lap early, Richard also took advantage of this lapse, posting a 2nd place with Phil recovering from his mistake just in time to finish 3rd ahead of Bess.
A break for lunch before the final race meant everyone could check the results and do the maths with 2nd, 3rd and 4th places still open: Phil on 10 points and Bess and Katie still tied on 13. With the championship in the bag, Gareth was allowed to claim the favoured pin end of the start line and sail to a comfortable lead as the rest of the fleet concentrated on their own battles. Phil recovered from a bad first leg to secure second after only passing Bess on the final run, posting his third 2nd place of the event. Bess got the better of Katie to take the remaining podium position with Richard rounding out the top 5.
Any concerns about the size of the water were unfounded. Even with the southerly on Saturday there was room for the trapezoid course, with no intereference from the Finn fleet that shared with us, and Sunday's westerly meant full length beats and runs. Leigh & Lowton's race management and organisation was faultless throughout, and we are very grateful fto them for giving us such an enjoyable time.
The size of the fleet was disappointing, but those who made the effort to travel from the far north, far east and far south all enjoyed it.
Gareth Williams GBR391
(additional contributions: Richard Eagleton and Phil Bush)
Results
| Place | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Total |
| 1 | Gareth Williams | Leigh and Lowton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Phil Bush | Bristol Corinthian | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | Bess Homer | Dalgety Bay | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
| 4 | Katie Mapplebeck | Ogston | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
| 5 | Richard Eagleton | Bexhill | 4 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 22 |
| 6 | Jenny Rogers | Leigh and Lowton | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
| 7 | Fiona Annan | Loch Tummel | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 36 |
| 8 | Mike Gilson | Alton Water | 10 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 38 |
| 9 | Katie Hughes | Leigh and Lowton | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 38 |
| 10 | Sarah Pullen | Bexhill Bough Beech | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 50 |
| 11 | Jane Stevens | Burghfield | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13.0 DNF | 10 | 51 |
| 12 | Brian Finnie | Loch Tummel | 11 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 13.0 DNF | 13.0 DNC | 57 |