Peters and Fitzgerald are 29er Inland Champions

by Event media on 9 Nov 2007 Fifty-five 29ers (including six from France) arrived at Grafham Water Sailing Club for the annual 29er Inland Championships as part of the Ovington 9er Championships. The wind forecast for the weekend was not good with light northwesterlies expected.

With an impressive turnout of 55 boats at Grafham Water for the 29er Inland Championships, close racing was going to be unavoidable. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and when the competitors arrived a steady 8 knots was blowing.

The fleet launched on time and racing quickly got underway. James Peters and Ed Fitzgerald won the first race with the experienced but new pairing of Phil Walker and John Mather in second.

After a general recall in the second race, the fleet got away at the 2nd ttempt. However, the race officer had changed the number of laps to be sailed between the recalled, and eventual start from 3 to 2. Many of the competitors failed to notice this change which proved costly to several crews.

The leader, and winner of the race, Keith Escritt sailing with daughter Siobhan hedged his bets by crossing the line before sailing back up the beat. However, the second boat, Becky Diamond and Fiona Hampshire, seeing an opportunity to take the lead rounded the leeward mark to sail back up the course, followed by a
number of others. Eventually it became clear that the course was 2 laps as more boats crossed the finish, and to their dismay those on the beat had to turn round.

The third race was back to 3 laps, and as the wind dropped away and a big left shift stirred up the fleet, boats were well spread out on the course. James Peters managed to pull out a good distance on the rest of the fleet, followed by Robin Cnudde and Hugo Kerhascoet, one of the 6 strong French team visiting us for the event.

After a relaxed Saturday evening, sailors woke up to another sunny day, but instead of the nice gentle breeze, the lake took on the appearance of a mirror. An indefinite postponement was flown, and eventually the decision was made to abandon racing for the day.

James Peters and Ed Fitzgerald won the event becoming 29er inland Champions with Phil Walker and John Mather runners up. In third overall and Ladies Inland champion were Peters/Lasko only two points behind.

29er Inlands - Overall Results:

1 GBR1278 James PETERS Ed FITZGERALD 1 10 1 12
2 GBR14 Phil WALKER John MATHER 2 5 5 12
3 GBR1212 Frances PETERS Claire LASKO 3 8 3 14
4 GBR605 Keith ESCRITT Siobhan ESCRITT 9 1 7 17
5 GBR1113 Matt HOLLIS Nick HOLLIS 10 6 4 20
6 FRA1350 Robin CNUDDE Hugo KERHASCOET 12 13 2 27
7 GBR1329 James HOPSON Adam PARRY 7 9 14 30
8 GBR1328 Bleddyn MON Tom HUMPHREYS 16 7 8 31
9 GBR2 Michael WOOD Oliver SPENSLEY-CORFIELD 20 4 9 33
10 GBR1115 Nick REDDING Adam HILTON 11 17 6 34
11 GBR1369 Tom DURHAM Alex COOPER 14 2 19 35
12 FRA1507 Nolwenn LEMAITRE Flora LAUGIER 8 18 11 37
13 FRA1348 Erell RANNOU Fanny LUMEAU 15 12 21 48
14 GBR1370 Max RICHARDSON Alex GROVES 6 24 20 50
15 GBR1249 Emma BARRY Kathryn TWEMLOW 25 14 12 51
16 GBR1221 Anna BROOKS Julia BOWDEN 22 21 10 53
17 GBR1244 Lilly CARLISLE Becky WALLBANK 19 15 23 57
18 GBR698 Chris WOODS Susanna EDWARDS 38 3 17 58
19 GBR1246 Brett HILL Gerbil ADAM 21 25 16 62
20 GBR620 Chris MATTHEWS Ed GIBBONS 24 16 26 66
21 FRA1349 Pauline COURTOIS Claire BOSSARD 13 22 34 69
22 GBR1114 Becky DIAMOND Fiona HAMPSHIRE 5 51 18 74
23 GBR376 Rob THOMAS Chris PEEL 33 32 15 80
24 GBR1214 Ben CORNISH Sam MATSON 32 20 29 81
25 GBR474 Natalya EYRE Laura SANDERS 26 31 24 81
26 FRA11 Kevin FISCHER Glenn GOURON 18 52 13 83
27 GBR724 Luke DAMPIER Matt HASLAM 30 11 49 90
28 GBR1153 Hannah BRIGGS Emma PEARSON 28 41 22 91
29 GBR1248 Henry LLOYD WILLIAMS Sam BATTEN 23 35 33 91
30 GBR619 Hannah TATTERSALL Sophie PORTEOUS 17 19 DNF56 92
31 GBR1220 Alex POYNER Holly TUCKER 34 33 27 94
32 GBR332 Lynn BILLOWES Catherine LLOYD 27 36 41 104
33 GBR346 Luke HARVEY Josh HARVEY 41 27 37 105
34 GBR325 Heather FOX Matt UNDRELL 46 29 30 105
35 GBR1322 Adam LARVIN Ollie TAYLOR 39 42 25 106
36 GBR311 Jean FURNESS Graham WHEATON 37 26 43 106
37 GBR621 Chris ONEILL Liam WATSON 48 23 36 107
38 GBR167 James BRIGGS John WHELTON 31 45 31 107
39 GBR342 Aaron SMITH Alec RODGERS 40 30 40 110
40 GBR1066 Paddy ADAMS Sam COOMBES 29 53 32 114
41 GBR132 Evee ALLEN Fiona ALLEN 35 40 39 114
42 FRA1347 Mathieu AUDERN Thomas NICOLAOU 4 DSQ56 DSQ56 116
43 GBR734 Joe ANDREWS Josh BANYARD 47 28 44 119
44 GBR838 Sam SEDDON Josh SEDDON 36 50 35 121
45 GBR544 Charlie ESSE Chris WATSON 44 34 48 126
46 GBR623 Holly PAVEY Jessica PORTWAY 43 46 38 127
47 GBR692 Charlotte MCCARTHY Alison BALDWIN 50 39 42 131
48 GBR1495 Sam CURTIS Peter HOLBROOK 52 BFD56 28 136
49 GBR914 Matthew GOACHER Joey SCOGING-BEER 42 49 45 136
50 GBR843 Alexander LEGASSICK Edward LEGASSICK 49 43 46 138
51 GBR1385 Grace FELL Honor FELL 54 38 47 139
52 GBR396 Thomas LAMBERT Nicola SMITH 45 47 50 142
53 GBR1285 Jilli DARLING Charlie FOX DNF56 37 53 146
54 GBR933 Tom FORRESTER-COLES Roddy LACEY 51 44 52 147
55 GBR401 Christopher SMITH Tom PENMAN 53 48 51 152