Craftinsure K6 Inland Championship at Carsington Sailing Club
by John Tabor 8 Jun 02:01 NZST
Craftinsure K6 Inland Championship at Carsington © Tim Olin /
www.olinphoto.co.uk
Seven boats competed in this year's Craftinsure K6 Inland Championships at Carsington SC. The low turnout of boats however did not stop the event from being hotly contested with previous national and inland champions attending in their bid to take this year's trophy home.
With a good F3 to F4, but slightly shifty wind created perfect conditions for some tight racing throughout the fleet. Last year's national champions Lawrence and Luka Crispin from Stone SC (K6 222) took an early lead overnight, with the only three up crew of Richard Harvey, Mick Steer and Kate Franklin (K6 113), and newcomers to the class Jonathan Swane and Chris Greaves (K6 205) both local Carsington boats in second and third. A dull day turned into a glorious evening, perfect for enjoying drinks and a good chat on the club balcony, and the ubiquitous class dinner.
Sunday turned into another glorious sailing day with wall to wall sunshine. Racing was tight across all three races, each being hard fought with no boats having its own way.
Last year's Inland champion, George Barker sailing with Russell Woodley (K6 209) from Oxford showed good form on the Sunday, along with Swain and Greaves in 205, who after some overnight boat bimbling saw improved pace enabling them to gain two seconds before a broken kicker lead to a retirement for the final race.
Another local boat of Toby and Mark Woodings (K6 165) also showing impressive pace, leading at many times during the day.
However, the consistency of the Crispins throughout the weekend enabled them to become 2024 Inland Champions, with Swain and Greaves second on equal points with Harvey, Steer and Franklin to take third.
Overall, the event demonstrated how tight and enjoyable racing can be within the K6 class, and how even the oldest of boats can still compete well against the newest in the fleet.
Prizes were presented by Natasha Whiting of Craftinsure who had kindly sponsored the event and provided much appreciated prizes. A final thanks goes to the race team who did a masterful job of race management, ably led by Henry Wright, another local K6 sailor.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 222 | Lawrence Crispin | Luka Crispin | Stone | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | 205 | Jonathan Swain | Chris Greaves | Carsington | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 13 |
| 3 | 113 | Richard Harvey | Kate Franklin & Mike Steer | Carsington | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| 4 | 209 | George Barker | Russ Woodley | Oxford | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| 5 | 165 | Toby Woodlings | Mark Woodings | Carsington | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 19 |
| 6 | 114 | Tony Harper | Steve Watson | Notts County | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 29 |
| 7 | 122 | John Tabor | Tom Kosteletos | Oxford | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 32 |