The 2015 Canoe Inland Championships were hosted by Llandegfedd Sailing Club over the weekend of 3rd & 4th July – the first opportunity for the fleet to test the recently re-opened club and buildings. We are happy to confirm that Llandegfedd now has the first class facilities fitting of this beautiful location.

A blustery SW breeze welcomed the fleet on Saturday morning. With visitors from as far afield as Cornwall & North Yorkshire the scene was set for some good racing. In the event it was a case of “last man standing” with only local boys Rob Wood & Dave Timson apparently unaffected by the extreme shifts and gust that blew over the hills. Gear failure, or the risk of, forced the remainder of the fleet to retire. Our reward for the attempt was a very welcome cold beer in the sunshine on the new club house deck.

Saturday evening we reconvened at a local hostelry to re-hydrate & review the day’s activities. A very pleasant evening with many assurances of “it’s not usually like this” from the locals.

In the finest tradition of canoe sailing the overnight repair work saw the fleet at full strength for Sunday morning. With the southerly breeze forecast to build Race Officer, Mark Williams, was keen to get the fleet away on schedule – and did so. Rob Wood again demonstrated his mastery of both boat & conditions with blistering upwind speed; the rest of us enjoyed some close racing with the common race track for both the IC & AC’s working well.

Between races Gareth Caldwell managed to flip his new Maas design “Ska for Life” in spectacular fashion – with only the nose remaining in contact with the water the rest of the boat was airborne. We look forward to further acrobatic prowess at the forthcoming Europeans.

The developing breeze delivered a lively first beat for the third and final race of the day which was shaping up nicely until a huge squall took out the whole fleet. With a collective decision to study the underside of our boats the race officer pulled up the abandoned flag to close the weekend’s racing.

Back ashore the sunshine returned to help us pack up before a very welcome curry lunch and the prize giving. Thanks to LLandegfedd SC for hosting the event; Race Officer, Mark Williams, for making the best of the challenging conditions; Steve Clarke and team for the organisation and a special mention for the rescue crew whom we kept rather busy!

IC Fleet

1. Rob Wood GBR 329

2. Rob Bell GBR 327

3. Gareth Caldwell GBR 321

AC Fleet

1. Dave Timson GBR 303

2. Tony Robertshaw GBR 306

3. Phil Allen GBR 296

Llandegfedd Canoe Inland Championships 2015

Overall

Sailed: 5, Discards: 1, To count: 4, Rating system: PY, Entries: 14, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	Class	SailNo	HelmName	PY	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Total	Nett
1st	IC	329	Rob Wood	894	1.0	(2.0)	1.0	1.0	1.0	6.0	4.0
2nd	AC	303	Dave Timson	870	2.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	(4.0)	11.0	7.0
3rd	IC	321	Gareth Caldwell	894	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	6.0	3.0	54.0	39.0
4th	IC	327	Rob Bell	894	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	3.0	7.0	55.0	40.0
5th	AC	306	Tony Robertshaw	870	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	5.0	5.0	55.0	40.0
6th	IC	334	John Ellis	894	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	4.0	8.0	57.0	42.0
7th	AC	296	Phil Allen	870	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	8.0	6.0	59.0	44.0
8th	AC	310	Steve Bowen	870	(15.0 DNF)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNF	2.0	62.0	47.0
9th	IC	324	Steve Clarke	894	(15.0 DNF)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	7.0	11.0	63.0	48.0
10th	AC	266	Andy Gordon	870	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	9.0	9.0	63.0	48.0
11th	AC	290	Matt	870	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	12.0	10.0	67.0	52.0
12th	AC	293	James R	870	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	10.0	15.0 DNF	70.0	55.0
13th	IC	320	Rob Stebbings	894	(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	11.0	15.0 DNC	71.0	56.0
14th					(15.0 DNC)	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	15.0 DNC	75.0	60.0

Sailwave Scoring Software 2.16.7