Fireball Inland Championship 2025 at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club

Fireball Inland Championship at Chew © Chris Meredith

After a lively Nationals at Looe the fleet were looking to enjoy some freshwater sailing on some flatter water. The forecast was for a moderate breeze on Saturday with and increasing wind on Sunday. It was good to see a variety of mixed teams getting in the mix and definitely making it hard for the usual suspects.

Saturday proved challenging for the Race team with rain showers and storms over the hills changing the direction and strength of the wind. After a delay, three races out of the planned four were sailed in some varying conditions. Not only did the fleet have to contend with the wind but the warm spring had created a number of large weed areas making parts of the lake unusable.

The race team did an excellent job of keeping the race track away from most of the weed, but these areas were best avoided both during and after the racing! Those with fixed rudders had some interesting tasks!

Paul Cullen & Simon Forbes put down an early marker by winning the first race of the day having taken an early lead only to lose it and get it back again. It was snakes and ladders for the next two races with the usual suspects of Tom Gillard & Andy Thompson, Dave Hall & Paul Constable and DJ Edwards & Vyv Townend all having a go with the lead only to find Tom and Andy getting it right at the end of each race to pull off two wins.

Sunday brought a clear sky and from the shore what looked like a perfect sailing day. The breeze was up - and occasionally very up with some sharp aggressive shifts. Most of the fleet at some point in the day either had a windward dump or even an involuntary tack/capsize.

Tom Gillard and Andy Thompson, overall winners - Fireball Inland Championship at Chew - photo © Andy Scott

The Race team planned to get an extra race in after losing one on Saturday. Paul & Simon once again started the day with a win, but it was Tom and Andy who won the next two meaning they had won with a race to spare. The last race of the day showed who could deal with the somewhat random conditions, after a number of teams were caught on the black flag Simon Lomas-Clarke & Rob Daniels got the race win making their weekend.

A big thanks go to the members of the club who put on a great weekend and some good food after sailing.

DJ Edwards and Vyv Townend, second overall - Fireball Inland Championship at Chew - photo © Andy Scott

Overall Results:

Paul Cullen and Simon Forbes, third overall - Fireball Inland Championship at Chew - photo © Andy Scott