Scorpion Inland Championship at Northampton Sailing Club
by Jerry Hannabuss 8 Nov 2022 04:48 PST
5-6 November 2022
The Scorpion Inlands were originally planned for September at Pennine Sailing Club, but due to lack of water the event was rescheduled and run at Northampton.
The forecast of strong breezes of 25 knots for the Saturday never materialized, with 15 knots of breeze making for excellent sailing for the whole fleet of fifteen.
Races 1 saw Alan Krailing and Simon Forbes from Staunton Harold take a lead at the windward mark that despite pressure towards the later stages of the race they never lost. With Winds swinging hard right up the beats with hard left at the end of the leg places were never safe and position changes were regular in the rest of the pack. 2nd spot was taken by Stuart and Nick Hyden in 2034 and 3rd by Steve Graham and Jerry Hannabuss in 2044.
Race 2 saw a battle for first between the 1st boats ion race1, and this time it was The Hydens who came out on top from Krailing / Forbes with Kev Hope and Rob Gardner in 2053 taking 3rd spot.
Race 3 saw the wind dropping and some tricky light patches needing navigating. Early leaders were Hope / Gardner who ended up battling with Krailing / Forbes for the victory. At the finish it was Krailing/Forbes who took the race victory, and became Inland Champions 2022. Close racing behind saw with some great upwind decisions being taken in the shifts by Nigel Potter and John Tailby in 1958 and they took 3rd in the race.
Saturday night started early at the bar with the nights coming in early, and great fireworks / food / beer etc provided by Northampton SC. Incredibly even though its officially winter, the fleet were thrilled to see Fresh still wearing flip flops, and the brightest Shirt and Shorts seen for many a year...
After great racing on Saturday, Sunday arrived with no wind and lots of mist. By 11.30 no wind had arrived so regrettably decision was made to abandon for the day.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 2051 | Alan Krailing | Somon Forbes | Staunton | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 2034 | Stuart Hyden | Nick Hyden | Shustoke | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| 3 | 2053 | Kev Hope | Rob Gardner | Notts County | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | 1958 | Nigel Potter | John Tailby | Notts County | 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | 2044 | Steve Graham | Jerry Hannabuss | Pennine | 3 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| 6 | 2014 | AJ Eaton | Chris Eaton | Starcross | 7 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | 2026 | Ian Cadwallader | Ellie Devereux | Chew Valley | 6 | 7 | 6 | 12 |
| 8 | 2042 | Angus Hemmings | Fraser Hemmings | Stokes Bay | 5 | 8 | 16 | 13 |
| 9 | 1929 | Graeme Bristow | Nick Lightbody | Hunts SC | 8 | 9 | 10 | 17 |
| 10 | 1986 | Fresh Abenstein | Rory Odell | | 9 | 15 | 8 | 17 |
| 11 | 2052 | Rob Cage | John Reay | Upper Thames | 11 | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| 12 | 2017 | John Willars | Nicola Willars | Notts Coiunty | 12 | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| 13 | 1969 | Chris Martin | Jason Warner | Notts County | 13 | 13 | 12 | 25 |
| 14 | 1984 | Kev Nicholls | Alan Kenyon | Notts County | 14 | 12 | 13 | 25 |
| 15 | 1052 | Clive Grimson | Alison Sheldrake | Notts County | 16 | 14 | 14 | 28 |