Squib inlands

Nine Burnham squibs made the journey to Rutland for the 2022 Squib Inland Championships. Those who had read the weather forecast (or had a game of golf in the afternoon) sensibly launched their boats in the dry on Friday morning whilst the rest got extremely damp as the heavens opened and attempted to replenish the reservoir.

After a night out in Stamford, the fleet were already “tired” and it was not going to be an easy day of sailing on Saturday with gusts in the top 20s. Four races were planned and in a fleet counting some of the best in the country it was always going to be close. Jono and Chris in Dodgy Counts had a cracking day with 2 firsts and 2 seconds whilst Nigel and Jack Grogan in Helmut Shoiing II, having taken a short break from the class also proved they still knew what to do. Unfortunately that did not include reading the number of laps and in the final race of the day, Micky and Alex in Spoof were able to capitalise on this unexpected error and sneak ahead to grab the win. Other notable mentions for Saturday include Ray and Petru’s 3rd in race two, Nick and Ross taking two 6ths despite Nick nursing a poorly knee and Scarlett helming Sophie to 10th in the last race. At the end of the day Jono and Chris topped the results, Micky and Alex in 3rd and Jack and Nigel equal on points but lying 4th on countback.

Sunday arrived with a lot less wind and a few less tired heads – a team social to the local Turkish ensured all were well fed. On the race course the wind was flukey and gave both competitors and race officers headaches throughout meaning consistency was key. Whilst some got the right side of shifts (Micky and Alex in race 5 coming from somewhere in the 20s to win thanks to a great last beat) others were not so fortunate and the results saw a shake up. Notable mentions for Sunday – Micky and Alex’s win in race 5, Dave beating Scarlett’s 10th by getting an 8th, Jono and Chris finding top spot in race 6 closely followed by Malcolm and Andy who took 3rd. As for the most important race of the day, this was won by Guy Fawkes, By the Lee and What’s the Story who sensibly made the decision to get under the crane rather than finish race 7!

Ultimately it was the current Squib National Champions, RicO’shea, who took the overall trophy however it was then a flurry of Burnham boats as Helmut Shoiing II took second place ahead of Dodgy Counts and Spoof. Unsurprisingly with that Burnham took home the team trophy and congratulations should also go to Jono and Chris for winning the Squib Traveller trophy.

Next up for the squibs is the John Lewis Memorial Trophy on the 15th October. Details and entry form can be found on the website.