B14 Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club

by Mark Barnes 2 Jul 18:13 AEST 28-29 June 2025

Sun, heat and big winds. Looks like it won't be over till the fat lady sings.

This year the B14 class association decided to move the Inlands to the middle of the year rather than as has happened in the last 10 years holding them in the spring at Rutland when invariably it would be cold and probably windy. So the order was warm weather, tick, mild breeze, jury was out.

Well class co-ordinator Claire and the Grafham team laid on a well organised event. Only issue might be the weather. Early week and into the weekend it was forecasted to blow dogs off chains on Saturday reducing throughout the day and by Sunday afternoon drop to nothing. Several teams had been watching the online weather forecasts and decided to give it a miss. Others turned up and Simon fell off his bike to get a pass for the weekend (hopefully back for the Nationals). A couple of well-known sailors in another class attending the event, turned up, unhitched the boat, walked down and had a look at the conditions, re-hitched and headed back down south.

R/O Nigel Dangerfield, advised the fleets would start on time. Your author, being one of the later ones to launch watching to see how teams coped with the conditions. Smaller rig boats like the RS500 and 4000s had it full on but was manageable. The B14s and their near 50 sq.m. downhill was a different matter. Several capsized on the way to the start including us, flattened just after a hoist meaning we were late on parade. A couple of teams launched and then returned to watch the spectacle.

The lake had many white caps blowing from W x S with some big gusts. This was going to be a day of attrition for many teams.

Race 1 got away at the first attempt, Seavolution/North Sails (Mark Barnes/Jack Kilburn) being 1.5 mins late due to sorting out the kite after the capsize and Squirrel (Chris Bateman/Lucy Loughton) being even later and timed out due to a capsize just before the start. These two were to give chase over the race.

First to the front were PSB (James/Anne Gardner) along with GBR766 (Wayne Hancox/Claire Geoghegan) followed by Admiral Trailers (Tony Blackmore/Tesni King), Night Shift (Amir Shamsuddin/Gaz Stewart) and Leaky Pipes (Gerry/Leaky Fermor). As they charged upwind, easing sails in the bigger gusts the five kept in close formation. At the windward mark it was PSB chased by Seavolution/North Sails and GBR766.

Down the run the dumpers were at play and rather than going all out for speed, a case of managing the course and keeping the rig upright. First to fall was Night Shift, being caught in a big gust and main disappearing from Amir's hand the mast inverted and exploded at the lower spreader in spectacular fashion without a capsize. Game over and a 3+ hour round trip to King George to get his spare for Sunday. Over the next lap Seavolution North Sails passed PSB but they came back with a better call on the leeward gate as there was little between them. This was to repeat over the next lap with Seavolution North Sails catching their kite in the water on the drop, spinning out and tomb stoning on the transom, but surviving, eventually pulling out a small lead on PSB up the next beat. GBR766 had a mast issue on the second lap so headed ashore to repair and be on parade for Sunday. Leaky Pipes also slid off home for an early bath and to get ready for the latter entertainment. Squirrel though timed out was on a charge. On lap 3 and the final lap Seavolution North Sails won from PSB followed by Admiral Trailers. With the latter heading home after the race.

Race 2 and with the wind dropping a nats whisker, only 3 B14s were left. Off the line with not much between them initially, but splitting to the right Squirrel came out in front and over the race was to extend and win from Seavolution North Sails and PSB. Jack had collected a groin strain in the race and so was not at his best but would soldier on. PSB, having 2 seconds and only capsizing between races, decided to head for shore and keep their powder dry for Sunday as they wind was not abating that quickly.

Race 3 was to be a race off between Squirrel and Seavolution North Sails. Out of the blocks they headed upwind together. Seavolution threw in a couple of tacks to avoid the land's wind shadow as being the heavier team wanted the power. Coming out of the second tack, Jack tweaked his injury and the decision was made, signalling Squirrel we were heading home. They carried on to the windward mark and then also headed home with no one now to race.

Ashore, chatter was had of how each had got on, on the day and a sweepstake on how long it would take Amir to get back with his mast. When he returned the gang got the rig in and set up ready for the next adventure whilst Wayne was back at work fixing his mast with Claire making sure all went smoothly with all classes for the weekend.

The galley provided a good 2 course meal for all and the bar stayed open for us though fewer in number with all avoiding the heat and sun.

Sunday dawned and as expected the breeze was falling from dawn. All revitalised but fully aware of the heat, launched, though in their hearts probably knew the outcome of the day. By the time the race was due to start the lake only had zephyrs. R/O Nigel had the fleet towed home to await the outcome. At 1230 racing was abandoned for the day, prize-giving promptly taking place and all heading home early afternoon.

Overall Seavolution North Sails won from PSB and Admiral Trailers.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	799	Mark Barnes	Jack Kilburn	Whitstable Yacht Club	1	1	DNC	12
2nd	798	James Gardner	Anne Gardner	Hayling Island Sailing Club	2	2	DNC	14
3rd	788	Tony Blackmore	Tesni King	Starcross Yacht Club	3	(DNC)	DNC	23
4th	766	Wayne Hancox	Claire Geoghegan	Grafham Water Sailing Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	30
4th	789	Crispin Taylor	Gi Harrill	Starcross Yacht Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	30
4th	774	Lucy Loughton	Chris Bateman	SYC	(NSC)	DNC	DNC	30
4th	795	Amir Shamsuddin	Gaz Stuart	King George Sailing Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	30
4th	770	Simon Hadley	Nikki Hadley	Whitstable Yacht Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	30
4th	786	Geraldine Fermor	Leaky	The Mote	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	30

With the next event being Datchet on the 19th of July and Nationals at Mumbles on 29th August, one can only hope we have a good breeze on all days to make it worthwhile for all teams to travel.

The Traveller series for 2025 is starting to look interesting with the first drop after Datchet.

Pos	Name	Pts
1	Simon Hadley	10
2	Mark Barnes	31
2	Jack Kilburn	31
4	Chris Bateman	33
4	Lucy Loughton	33
4	Tony Blackmore	33
7	Amir Shamsuddin	35
8	Josh Wilce	36
8	Matt Hollis	36
10	Crispin Taylor	37
10	Gi Harrill	37
10	Geraldine Fermor	37
10	Leaky Fermor	37
14	Wayne Hancox	38
15	Jamie Dawson	58
15	James Gardner	58
15	Anne Gardner	58
18	Rory Moppett	59
18	Tesni King	59
20	Matt Banbrook	60
20	Chris Hatton	60
20	Amy Roberts	60
20	Dave Roberts	60
20	Claire Geoghegan	60
20	Gary Stuart	60
20	Nikki Hadley	60
27	Chris Pilling	62