2022 Noble Marine UKLA ILCA 7 Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club

The weekend of the 5th and 6th of November saw a strong fleet of 43 ILCA 7s descend upon the infamous Grafham Water SC for the Inland Championships. With gale warnings on the south coast there were no doubts that the breeze would arrive to provide the perfect setting for an inland regatta.

After a lengthy break from Laser sailing - oops, I mean ILCA sailing - I thought the opportunity to turn up at the Inlands was one not to be missed. The last time I found myself at an inlands and at Grafham was exactly ten years ago!

Boat-less and car-less my prospects of getting to the start line were looking bleak but after a couple of phone calls during the week the actual sailor of the decade - Jon Holt of the Greig City Academy - came good and managed to 'squeeze' a spare boat onto the roof rack of an already fully loaded car/trailer. Thanks Jon! the regatta was on!

Upon rigging it was apparent that the wonky and cracked top-section with the boat wasn't going to survive a windy day so a quick message on the very active regatta WhatsApp came back with a flood of helpful offers of spare masts - much appreciated.

After a quick wade though the mud to get onto the water we were greeted with a steady 10-12kn and a near perfectly square line and course set by the race team. The race team used a 3,2,1 sequence which ultimately saves time and kept you on your toes in the pre-start.

2022 Noble Marine UKLA ILCA 7 Inlands at Grafham Water - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography

The first beat was a great reminder that while inland sailing you are never really that certain what is going to happen or how it is going to pan out. The leaders worked what felt like the middle and left of the course to lead the breakaway by the windward mark. The breeze was now gusting in the mid-teens which allowed the front bunch to pull away from the pack as they slid down the top reach and onto the run of the outer trapezoid course.

With the increase in breeze, it was now possible to plane and pass the waves if you managed to play the bands of pressure. The Leading pack predominantly gybe set to take a little pocket of pressure out of the mark which had the first short term gain, but a more substantial patch of pressure rolled down the right side of the run allowing yours truly to sneak past into the lead.

The second beat provided a decent scatter of boats going hard left, hard right and up the middle, ultimately not getting committed to a lay line too early was the key to keep the options open right up to the windward mark. By the finish it was Matt Reid (me) followed by Nick Welbourn in second and well sailed third by Daniel Fletcher.

2022 Noble Marine UKLA ILCA 7 Inlands at Grafham Water - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography

The second race again started with another reasonably square line and a raring fleet that were now sailing in a decent 12-18kn of breeze allowing those legs to be fully stretched out. This race was taken by James Foster followed by Finley Dickinson and Jacob Farren-Price.

For the third and final race of the day the forecast had suggested a consistent build throughout the day but in reality we saw a small decrease throughout the race. The race officer decided to extend the course to three laps allowing for more opportunities to make gains, or losses - sailing back through the chop and disturbed air never felt like a strong move.

As the breeze decreased, and on the the final run, Reid had a small lead over Farren-Price. By the leeward mark this was suddenly down to a couple of feet. Farren-Price employed some match-racing techniques pushing Reid hard to the left to defend the inside and effectively mark room followed by a swift upturn to try and roll over the top and enter the zone first.

Reid just hung in there and managed to hold off some tight rolling attempts on the final reach to take the bullet with Farren-Price a length behind and Dickinson in third.

Of the group following the top five Edward Baker, Daniel Fletcher, Kai Wolgram, and James Curtis all chalked up at least one decent result to put them in a good position for Sunday.

2022 Noble Marine UKLA ILCA 7 Inlands at Grafham Water - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography

Sunday dawned with a lighter forecast and an early start at 1030, of which was the exact timing of the first starting signal with no delays or hesitation from the race committee. The lighter conditions took the edge off the boat handling emphasis that was so prominent the day before allowing the fleet to have some incredibly tight racing by the vast range of ages and abilities.

Tom Mitchell got his best result in race 5 with a second. George Colquitt, Luke Anstey, Edward Baker and Ewan McAnally improved also their positions.

The final race was set to be the decider where any of the top five could have clinched the title. The overnight leaders pressure got to Reid seeing him round the first windward in the mid-teens and allowing the top four to battle it out.

By the end of race 6 Welbourn had taken the bullet adding to his bullet tally from the previous race but it was wasn't quite enough to clinch the overall. It was however James Foster that demonstrated excellent consistency over the six races to take the Inland Title.

Finally a big thank you on behalf of all the ILCA sailors from the weekend to all the helpers and volunteers who made this event possible. Especially the RO James Hynes and Neil Collingridge.

Jon Emmett interviews the winners on the UKLA Facebook page www.facebook.com/UKLAILCA and in the video below

Thanks also to our main weekend sponsors, Noble Marine, Ovington Boats, Vaikobi and Sailingfast who support the class so loyally.

• Noble Marine - has crafted a very competitive and excellent insurance product for all Laser/ILCA sailors. A very personal service and an extremely useful website help make this the 'go to' company to insure your boat. www.noblemarine.co.uk
• Sailingfast - Duncan brings his battle buss down from Scotland for most the big events, which is so ridiculously well equipped, you could replace everything on your boat. Although based in Scotland they will get anything to you super fast. sailingfast.co.uk
• Vaikobi - a brand born on the waters of Sydney Harbour, out of a passion for all ocean sports. Across the team, we paddle, Surfski, SUP, Wing Foil and Sail. www.vaikobi.com
• Ovington Boats - one of the biggest and best dinghy builders in the world and are now the official UK builders of ILCAs. www.ovingtonboats.com

Overall Results:

2022 Noble Marine UKLA ILCA 7 Inlands at Grafham Water - photo © Georgie Altham / www.facebook.com/galthamphotography