RS400 Inland Championship 2024 at Grafham Water Sailing Club

RS400 Inland Championship at Grafham day 2 © Hilary Talbot

Grafham laid on a fantastic forecast of 12 knots and glorious sunshine for day 1 of the RS400 Inland Championships, sponsored by Rooster Sailing. The RS400s shared the lake with the RS200s and RS500s, who also contested their inland championships.

Race one saw defending champions Nick Craig/Toby Lewis take an early lead in the rapidly shifting breeze. They extended downwind in the gusts to win from Tom Halhead/Paul Hilliar, with Sam Knight/Chris Bownes winning a tight scrap for third.

Sizeable gusts up to 18 knots were coming down the racecourse and Craig/Lewis again took an early lead but with Ollie Groves/Esther Parkhurst nipping at their heels. A big shift on the second upwind launched Halhead/Hilliar into the lead. The top two battled for a lap before Craig/Lewis showed their experience to win the race but Groves/Parkhurst launched into a massive gust on the final downwind to take the runners-up spot.

The wind stayed shifty but with increasingly punchy gusts for the final race. The same top three pulled away from the fleet and had some super tight racing with lots of lead changes. At the finish, only two seconds separated the top three, with Craig/Lewis somehow coming out ahead of Halhead/Hilliar and Groves/Parkhurst. Knight/Bownes came fast on a late charge but just ran out of racecourse and finished only a few seconds further back.

RS400 Inland Championship at Grafham day 2 - photo © Graham Timms

Sunday morning racing got under way in 10-12 knots. Significant shifts regularly rolled through and kept everyone on their feet but without the whopping gusts of the previous day. Groves/Parkhurst were super-fast out of the blocks for the first race, battling for the lead with Knight/Bownes and Chris/Nikki Webber. However, the wind gods had other ideas for the chasers, and Craig/Lewis pulled through to take the runners-up spot ahead of Halhead/Hilliar.

Knight/Bownes scorched into the first mark from the left in the next race and quickly built a sizeable lead but unfortunately, they forgot to mention to Craig/Lewis that it was their turn to win a race. Sure enough, the Jaws music started playing, and Craig/Lewis couldn't be denied the race win and the event win with a race to spare.

The wind softened a little to 8-10 knots for the final race and Craig/Lewis squeaked around the first mark in front of Halhead/Hilliar and the Webbers. Craig/Lewis gybed early with Groves/Parkhurst to launch off into the lead. It turned out that both corners of the first run paid heavily and as the leading two came into the downwind gate, Stuart Halman/Anna Walsh were hot on the heels of the leaders. As the large shifts continued to roll through, the leading pair were duelling so hard that they were joined by Knight/Bownes.

RS400 Inland Championship at Grafham - photo © Hilary Talbot

Overall, the results said that Craig/Lewis won at a canter, but the detail showed that the racing was tight all through the weekend. Runners-up Groves/Parkhurst really took it to the event winners on day 2, but Craig/Lewis showed their class to consistently pull through to the front of the fleet.

Halhead/Hilliar were rewarded with third overall for a consistent series, finishing ahead of Knight/Bownes.

Many thanks to the club for putting on an excellent event. The race team did an outstanding job of cranking out the races at an amazing pace.

RS400 Inland Championship at Grafham - photo © Hilary Talbot

Overall Results: