WASZP Welsh Championship at Bala Sailing Club
by Nici Hoyle 1 Oct 20:52 PDT
26-27 September 2026
Sixteen WASZPs entered the Welsh Championship at Bala, rescheduled from August when a lack of wind stopped play. This time there was no shortage of breeze.
Six races were sailed on Saturday before Sunday proved too gnarly to race. The U19s dominated, taking the top four places, and Max Rawlinson won the title with four race wins from six, discarding a 4th to finish on 6 points.
Saturday
Day 1 delivered WASZP racing at its best. The race team set a NASCAR course with sprints across the lake and ran five races of 10-15 minutes each. The wind was never going to make it easy. Big gusts and equally big lulls rolled down the lake, and the breeze turned fickle near the shores, so no lead was safe until the finish.
Alex Jones set the pace early, winning races 1 and 3. Max answered by taking races 2, 4 and 5, and his 4th in race 3 was his only finish outside the top two. Thomas Dempsey was the most consistent of the chasers, with three top-three finishes. Behind them, Helena Mills Bowers was the top 7.5 rig claiming two 3rd place finishes, and Oscar Hoyle as the second 7.5 and top U17 taking a 2nd in race 5.
The long-distance race
To finish, the fleet went from sprint to marathon with a long-distance race: a three-mile beat to the top of the lake and back. Max Rawlinson led at the windward mark with clear water, followed by Alex Jones and then Thomas Dempsey. The downwind leg changed the race again. The gusts let boats further back ride the wind lines down the lake and hunt down the leaders.
The key was the east side, which had more pressure all the way down. Sailors who kept gybing to stay in that pressure line made big gains, and some reported between 21 and 24 gybes on the one downwind leg. Max held on for the win ahead of Alex and Tom. Ian Fitzgerald finished 4th and secured top overall Master. It was a close finish with the top 5 finishing within 20 seconds of each other.
Sunday
The fleet launched on Sunday, but gusts of up to 37 knots, with big holes in between, made the conditions unraceable, and the race officer abandoned racing for the day. Some sailors stayed out to enjoy the pressure lines in the breeze with speed runs up and down the lake. Saturday's six races stood as the final results.
A big thank you to Bala Lake Sailing Club, the race officer and team, the safety boat crews and the volunteers ashore for some great hospitality and racing.
Top female and top 7.5 rig: Helena Mills Bowers
Top U17: Oscar Hoyle
Top Master: Ian Fitzgerald
Top Super Master: Colin Rawlinson
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sailor | Sail No | Division | Rig | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Max Rawlinson | 2924 | Junior (U19) | 8.2 | 2 | 1 | -4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Alex Jones | 2175 | Junior (U19) | 8.2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 8 |
| 3 | Thomas Dempsey | 3648 | Junior (U19) | 8.2 | 3 | -6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 |
| 4 | Helena Mills Bowers | 3363 | Junior (U19) | 7.5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -6 | 21 |
| 5 | Oscar Hoyle | 3285 | U17 | 7.5 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 29 |
| 6 | George Spence | 2905 | Junior (U19) | 8.2 | 6 | -8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 30 |
| 7 | Ian Fitzgerald | 2607 | Master | 8.2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | -10 | 7 | 31 |
| 8 | Peter Hoyle | 3476 | Master | 8.2 | 9 | 10 | -13 | 5 | 8 | 37 |
| 9 | Sam Watson | 3154 | Master | 8.2 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 8 | (DSQ) | 43 |
| 10 | Jim Bowes | 2729 | Junior (U19) | 8.2 | 10 | -13 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 44 |
| 11 | Colin Rawlinson | 2436 | Super Master (50+) | 8.2 | 11 | 5 | 11 | -12 | 9 | 46 |
| 12 | Ben Knapper | 2437 | U17 | 7.5 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 48 |
| 13 | Chris Keatley | 2522 | Master | 8.2 | (DNS) | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 63 |
| 14= | Theo Smith | 2702 | Junior (U19) | 8.2 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 75 |
| 14= | Tristan Harding | 2700 | Junior (U19) | 7.5 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 75 |
| 14= | Finley Kirkby | 2976 | U17 | 6.9 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 75 |