Inland Champs 2004
A strong turn out of over 50 boats travelled to Rutland Water for the 2004 Inlands Champs with all the usual suspects vying for the title...with the welcome return of multiple National Champion, Phil King.
The mist lifted for lunch and a light but steady 5 knot breeze filled in for the duration of the afternoon's racing. With a port bias line set close into the shore it was a difficult choice whether to start at the pin end with the bias or at the committee end closer to the bank where the breeze was marginally stronger. Phil King chose the pin end and managed to sneak around the windward mark first just ahead of Dan Alsop sailing PK's ex ex boat Gangsta Paradise. Further down the fleet Simon Blake (2003 Inland Champion) rounded the first mark in 8th, he and crew Linton Jenkins reeled in a few boats down the reaches to round the leeward mark 6th and up the following beat evidently picked the shifts perfectly to take the lead.
Down the run in the sporadic zephyrs of breeze, Blake sustained his lead while Alsop drew up neck and neck with King. These two remained inseparable until the end with Blake taking gold, Alsop silver and King bronze. The following pack of 6 boats crossed the line within seconds of one another with David Winder squeezing 4th after noticing the committee end bias to the finish line.
The second race saw a further reduction in wind strength as it clocked round to the left. To succeed, an aggressive start was a necessary evil…..lose friends at the bar or places on the race course. When it goes light quality shines through and Phil King showed the way, but what Will Warren was doing in second no one knows, but well done anyway. Phil, with daughter Christina crewing, showed they could handle the pressure and extended their lead to the end, Warren Jnr held on to second while Simon and Linton racked up another good result with a third.
After some dispute around the committee boat the third race was held back to back as opposed to the programmed lunch break. With such light winds, if the fleet have gone in then surely they would have stayed in.
The wind had picked up relatively and was now consistently coming from further left up the beat, a point that had gone unnoticed by the race committee. With such a pin end bias the start played key. It was fleet custodian Alan Warren who made the best of it, very closely followed by Mr and Mrs P&B, Tom Stewart and Chris Downham. Tom just lead from Alan at the windward mark by a matter of inches. Phil King was third and Simon Blake in the early teens. If things stayed the same both would be on equal points after day one, counting a first and a third so the pressure was on for Simon and Linton. An admirable effort saw them creep up to eighth, the top three places remained unchanged for the duration with Mike Calvert fourth and Glen Truswell fifth having made a massive gain on the last beat noticing the lift off the shore on the approach to the windward mark.
Upon return to the club it was time to adorn DJs and posh frocks for the annual Silver Tiller Dinner. Series winners Glen Truswell and Paul Davo Davies sailed an outstanding season finishing second at the nationals, third at Salcombe week and clear winners of the Silver Tiller winning no less than 8 separate events. During the prize giving Peter Scott gave a 'This is You Life' style tribute to the winning pair sufficient to make anyone blush. Second in the series were 2004 National Champions Richard Whitworth and Matt Mee with Mike and Jane Calvert third sailing the same 'Let it Ride' design boat as Truswell.
Sunday morning dawned and the fleet awoke (slowly) to a light haze and not a breath of wind. The postponement flag was flown, or should I say hung, and the fleet was requested to stay ashore by the committee. However, a few naughty children decided to go for a drift and the entire fleet followed like sheep. Eventually all racing was abandoned just before midday when it was thought unlikely for the breeze to fill in. This left the results from Saturday as the final results for the overall event. Phil King and Simon Blake both had 4 points but with King carrying a better result in the last race it was he who took the prize.
Alex Jackson
See also - full results