UKWA Inlands Round 1, Pitsford Reservoir, UK April 16th/17th 2011

Sorry for the late update but i'm only just back from the UK and had limited access to the net while i was there so was unable to update my blog until now.

It doesn't seam that long since the UKWA inland series finished last year and it was time again for me to make the long trek across the Irish Sea to the UK to compete at the first round of the UKWA Inland Championships. I arrived late Friday night and after some food had an early night so i could get a decent nights sleep to prepare myself for the weekends racing.

I got up early Saturday morning to be greeted by little to no wind but regardless i got my gear together and rigged up my 9.5m Raceboard Sail, 10.5 Raceboard Sail and got my Starboard Phantom 380 Race ready and waited for the start of the first race. Late in the afternoon we were all called out to race so i grabbed my 10.5m Raceboard Sail and Phantom and headed out on the water but it was really testing conditions, about 3-6 knots with wind shifts of up to 90-100 degrees which meant most of us actually managed to make the 1st windward mark on 1 tack and the downwind run was more of a broad reach so the race was finished when we got back to the windward mark which we again made on 1 tack. That was it for the day as the wind dropped right off so we packed up, had a Barbeque and a few drinks then went to bed hoping there would be more wind the following day.

We all awoke to a bit more wind than the previous morning but still not enough to race so we waited around until called on the water just before lunchtime for the second race. I again grabbed the 10.5m and Phantom and went out on the water. The wind was alot more consistent in direction and around 6-7 knots so i was hoping the wind would stick around or the rest of the day but unfortunately not long after the start of the second race the wind dropped off to around 3-4 knots and when we finished we were sent in to wait to see if the wind picked up again but it never did so as there was only 2 races completed and 3 needed for an official result that was it for the event and it would not count towards the overall ranking unfortunately.

I finished 2nd place in the Raceboard unlimited fleet and 5th master which was the same result here last year. Just hoping now that we get some wind at Derwent for the next round and i can get a decent result towards my UKWA Inland Ranking