Noble Marine ILCA 6 UK Inland Championships at Grafham Water
by Thomas Knight 8 Nov 03:56 AEDT
31 October - 1 November 2026
Noble Marine ILCA UK Inland Championships at Grafham Water © Saillotts / Lotte Johnson
Just over 80 ILCA 6s from all over the country gathered at Grafham Water Sailing Club for the Inland Championships on the Halloween weekend at the end of October / beginning of November. Unfortunately, due to heavy fog and a lack of wind there was no racing on Day 1 but the sailors enjoyed catching up with friends instead.
Day 2 also had a foggy start but the shore on the opposite side of the water gradually came into view and the wind finally arrived enough for the sailors to launch and head to the sailing area. Due to the large number of sailors racing, the ILCA 6s were divided into four flights.
Yellow and blue flights started Race 1 in around 5 - 6 knots of northerly wind followed by the green and red flights. Both fleets got away cleanly on the first attempt after the Race Committee had set a square line with more boats favouring the Committee boat end. Racing was tight at the front of both fleets with no boat able to establish a strong advantage in shifty conditions. Toby Turner, Dougal Jackson and Thomas Knight finished in positions 1-3 and Theo Valantin, Thomas Semmens and Ben Angell finished in positions 1-3 in the green / red race.
There was a bit more breeze for the start of Race 2 which started quite quickly after the finish of Race 1. For Race 2 yellow and red flights raced together with blue and green starting second. Despite the Committee boat end of the line being bias, boats which started at the pin end were able to stay in a clean lane and take advantage of the lifts on port down the left side of the course to cross the rest of the fleet. In the first Race 2, Toby Turner, Poppy Luxton and Harry Dence perfected this and were then able to extend their lead during the rest of the race. In the second Race 2, Ollie Atkin took an early lead sailing a superb first upwind leg closely followed by Thomas Saunders. The pair continued to race closely with Ollie Atkin finishing first with Thomas Saunders and Thomas Semmens in second and third.
The wind built nicely for Race 3 to 12 -14 knots and continued to favour the left hand side of the course. The pin end of the line became significantly more favourable with boats on port comfortably able to cross the fleet. The blue and red flights race got off to a clean start with Thomas Semmens, Ollie Atkin and Toby Turner once again taking the top three places. In the yellow and green race, after one general recall, the fleet had some tight racing with Harry Dence, Zach Chappell and Thomas Knight fighting closely for the top three positions throughout.
The ILCA 6 Inland Championships proved to be a tricky weekend all round for the Race Committee, sailors and volunteers due to the weather conditions. The sailors were all very grateful for the competitive racing and to Grafham Water Sailing Club for their hospitality. Many thanks also to all our class sponsors and to Trac Trac for providing trackers for the event.
ILCA 6 Results:
Overall Top 3
1) Toby Turner
2) Thomas Semmens
3) Harry Dence
Top 3 Male
1) Toby Turner
2) Thomas Semmens
3) Harry Dence
Top 3 Female
1) Poppy Luxton
2) Jessica Powell
3) Phillipa Knights
U19 Man - Theodore Valantin
U17 Man - Toby Turner
U21 Woman - Poppy Luxton
U19 Woman - Cira Murphy
U17 Woman - Jessica Powell
Male Master - Jon Emmett
Female Master - Christine Statham
Full results can be found here.
Title Sponsors: Noble Marine
Class Sponsors: Sailingfast, Rooster, Ovington and Fernhurst Books.
We used Trac Trac technology.