International Canoe Training and Open at Northampton Sailing Club
by Gareth Caldwell 21 May 2018 12:17 PDT
19-20 May 2018
Despite the light wind forecast for the weekend, 17 boats took to the water on the Saturday for some training under the watchful eye of the current World Champion Robin Wood (aided by 'chief anchor retriever' Gareth Caldwell, and 'chief driver' Rob Bell).
Unfortunately, the slightly late start had resulted in the fleet foregoing the five mile warm-up run, and the Pilates session, so it was straight into start practice, small course racing, and individual one-on-one tuition.
Three more ICs arrived during the afternoon, and the Open meeting on the Sunday saw 20 helms making the most of any increases in pressure over the course... along with the inevitable wind shifts. Two light wind races were completed in the morning, with Robin practising what he had preached the day before and taking two wins. An increase in the breeze for the afternoon's long distance race saw the fleet visiting all areas of the lake. Robin again took the bullet, but was pressed hard by Chris Hampe who left his late surge just a little too late.
The IC fleet would like to say 'thank you' to Northampton Sailing Club for hosting the first IC Open Meeting to be held there for a long time - in fact, it might even be the first time.