INLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000
Forty four intrepid Merlins descended on Rutland Water for the weekend of 11 & 12 November for their hastily rescheduled Inland Championships following the fuel crisis in September. The event’s format was three races on Saturday and two on Sunday with four out of five to count.
Competitors were greeted by extremely wet and windy conditions on Saturday with race one being won by Mike Calvert and Liam Dempsey hotly pursued by Paul Davies and Sara Warren in second and Richard Whitworth and Jennie King in third.. The fleet returned to shore for a hasty lunch before returning to the top of the pond for races two and three. Unfortunately the Race Officer was constrained by the remaining daylight hours and so both the races were quite short with the leaders struggling to sail beyond thirty minutes before finishing. However the fleet were treated to a stunning sunset as a backdrop whilst returning to shore at the end of the day. Having survived the treacherous conditions the trickiest part of the day for the competitors was putting the boats away in absolute darkness !!!
Conditions for day two were yet more wind with a steady force five but the rain had been replaced by brilliant sunshine. Race four was a real game of snakes and ladders with six or seven different leaders at various stages of the race but in the end Julian Parry and Chris Taylor emerged from the carnage to take line honours closely followed by the two Simons who made a fine recovery after their outhaul exploded on the second beat. Simon Blake had the dubious honour of being the only person to hit the water tower that is situated in the thousands of acres of water that make up Rutland Water !!!!
The Championships were to be decided on the last race with seven boats having a mathematical chance of winning but basically it all boiled down to either Whitworth/King, Davies/Warren or Calvert/Dempsey needing to win and hence not rely on where others finished.
Nerves were further thrayed by a general recall but Whitworth made a great start and then benefited from a huge port shift to lead by a comfortable margin at the windward mark. Davies and Warren rounded fourth and hence were still in contention but then promptly capsized. Yet again the race area was littered with upturned Merlins but through all the carnage Whitworth and King appeared to secure race victory and hence the Inland Championships. All the other fancied runners suffered problems but Davies and Warren managed to crawl back up to seventh place to pip Calvert and Dempsey for second overall.
The winner was obviously delighted to win first time out in his new boat in anger and even happier because when the Inlands were originally scheduled in September, he was away on holiday in America - the gods must have been looking out for him !!!
Results:
1 - Richard Whitworth and Jennie King
2 - Paul Davies and Sara Warren
3 - Mike Calvert and Liam Dempsey
4 - Dave Winder and Steve Denison
5 - Phil King and Kevin Driver
6 - Nick Heginbotham and Stuart Bithell