UKWA Inlands Round 3, Rutland Reservoir, Whitwell, UK

As there has not been much windsurfing action in Ireland this year i headed across to the UK on the 12th and 13th of June to compete in Round 3 of the UKWA Inlands at Whitwell SC, Rutland Reservoir, Whitwell, Epingham, Oakham, England. This event at Rutland also included the Rutland Marathon which i was looking forward to taking part in as it is something i have wanted to do for a long time but never had the oportunity before.

I arrived at Rutland late afternoon on Friday after a 18 hour trip over from Ireland. I was also collecting my new raceboard at this event so went over to the shop to get it, a F2 380 Race in good condition so i now had a board to help me compete against the Phantoms. I then set up the tent and had a bit of food and a few beers, then headed to bed early to get a decent sleep for racing the following day.

I awoke to hot sunny weather :-) but not alot of wind :-( but knew with the heat there should be some wind at some point of the day so went and registered for the Raceboard Unlimited fleet again and get my gear ready. I rigged up my 9.8m KA Race and 8.3m KA Koncept and waited for the organizers to make a call and start the racing. After about an hour the wind filled in so i headed out on the water for the racing with my 9.8m KA Race and F2 380. We had 2 races before lunch in the testing conditions with the wind swinging so much you had to have abit of luck to get the laylines right and by lunch i was getting tired so was glad of the break. Straight after lunch we had one more race again in the testing conditions but this time i took out my 8.3m as it is a lighter sail and easier to pump and once the race was finished we all headed in.

Once on the beach the briefing was called for the Rutland Marathon so we memorized the course and headed out for the start of the race. Once the race got underway i realized that it was going to be an exhausting race as the wind had started to drop off to 3-5 knots but I managed to finish the Marathon in 2 hours and 15 minutes in 61st place out of 84 people who started so i was happy i got round and finished. We all then headed back in and settled down to watch the England - USA World Cup Game with free beer courtesy of Heineken UK but less said about the disastrous tournament that England had .

Again there was not alot of wind on Sunday morning and alot of the racers got caught off guard when racing got called just before lunch so we all headed out for 3 back to back races in light conditions again. I finished the event in 3rd Place in the Raceboard Unlimited fleet and 9th master which considering my weight disadvantage in the light winds wasn't to bad so i was happy enough with my results.

Hopefully i can make it back across in September for the next round.