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A couple weeks ago after finishing work on the afternoon of Friday 13th, i loaded up my van and made the trip over to Rutland Water where i was going to competing at Round 4 of the UKWA Inlands. It was also Round 5 of the Midland Windsurfing Association Race Series and on Saturday the annual Rutland Marathon was to run as well. Rutland for me is one of the furthest locations away from Birmingham but still only 80 miles away so after a 2 hour drive i arrived early evening at 7pm. After catching up with friends i headed to the local pub to have a few drinks before heading back to where we were camping to get an early night ahead of the racing the following day.
On Saturday morning after breakfast and registering i decided to get my gear ready. With not much wind forecasted i rigged up my 10.5m Raceboard Sail, my 9.5m KA Koncept and got my Starboard Phantom ready with a 50cm Vector Maui Fins Canefire Fin and waited for racing to start. Just after 10.30 we were called out onto the water and as the wind was 4 knots gusting upto 7-8 knots i grabbed my 10.5m Raceboard sail and hit the water. As it wasn't that windy i was finding it hard due to my weight which is now down to 95kg, but still too heavy to be competitive and with the wind shifts the upwind legs were a bit of a lottery as most of the time i was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the shifts were coming through so i couldn't take advantage of them and we managed to get in 3 races before lunch. The call was made to have a long lunch and then run the Rutland Marathon.
Just before the Marathon was due to start the wind disappeared completely so we were put on hold until there was enough to run the race which after an hour the wind direction swung 180 degrees and with the wind now gusting upto 10 knots it was game on. When the start line was laid we would have been beating upto the first tower but with the wind shift we were now reaching downwind for the first leg and after 2 recalls we got underway but now the wind was steadily dropping off making the going tough but i carried on regardless as i wanted to finish this year. After 2 hours of pumping and pain i was making my way back towards the finish line when the heavens opened as i was about 500 meters from the finish and the wind swung again picking upto 10-12 knots before disappearing just as quickly as it came. I finished 24th overall and 1st Raceboard Unlimited and after 2 previous attempts i finally finished so i was pretty stoked as you can imagine. After some food and a few drinks that evening i got an early night ready for Sundays racing.
On Sunday there was a bit more wind with the wind around 8 gusting upto 16 knots so when we were called out for the first race i grabbed my 9.5m KA Koncept and hit the water. Not long after the racing started the wind dropped off to around 7-12 knots unfortunately and we had another 3 races before lunch. Unfortunately though when i came off the water i started to feel a bit of pain in my back so decided to call it a day and use my 2 disguard's for the scheduled 2 races after lunch rather than hurting my back my more which could mean having to take time off from my job which i can't afford to happen as any time taken off is taken into account when i am due to get my Land Rover contract in January and could mean i don't get offered one.
I finished the event 27th Overall, 2nd Overall in the Raceboard Unlimited Fleet and 6th Master. Still waiting for the overall 2012 rankings to be updated and the Midlands Windsurfing Association results to be uploaded to the net but it looks like I've won the Raceboard Unlimited Fleet again this year so happy with that. The next event isn't till September now so time to recharge and get ready for the last few events of the year, see you on the water.
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