Despite the biblical forecast as Storm Amy rolled inexorably across the country on Saturday, 26 Mirrors weren't deterred from entering their Inland Championship on 4th & 5th October at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club.
This was a combined event with the Firefly class, who by all accounts descended upon the bar once the race team wisely cancelled racing on the Saturday. Four races were scheduled for the following day.
Sunday dawned still breezy but, with big dark isolated clouds rolling across the lake, occasionally the wind would drop to almost flat calm before the next squall line came in at 25kts. This combined with the restricted water (a result of the tide being out at Chew since August) forced the two fleets onto the same triangle sausage course and made consistency hard to find for all competitors. Fireflys being slightly bigger and slightly faster than mirrors can make very effective wind blockers!
Sadly there is no report or any photos from this event.
Sailed: 4, Discards: 1, To count: 3, Entries: 16, Scoring system: Appendix A
| Rank | Class | SailNo | Rating | HelmName | CrewName | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | Nett |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | MIRROR (D/H) | 71042 | Matthew McGovern | Lewis McGovern | South Staffs SC | (2.0) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | |
| 2nd | MIRROR (D/H) | 70960 | Matthew Burge | Pippa Burge | Poole YC | 1.0 | (3.0) | 2.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 5.0 | |
| 3rd | MIRROR (D/H) | 70683 | Roger Tait | Archie Tait | Ripon Sailing Club | 3.0 | 4.0 | (9.0) | 3.0 | 19.0 | 10.0 | |
| 4th | MIRROR (D/H) | 71053 | Ian Dobson | Ted Dobson | HISC | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | (6.0) | 18.0 | 12.0 | |
| 5th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70493 | Paul Hayden | Evangeline Hayden | Lymington Town SC | 7.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | (11.0) | 24.0 | 13.0 | |
| 6th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70915 | Steve Cumley | Thomas and Harry Cumley | Barnt Green SC | (12.0) | 8.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 30.0 | 18.0 | |
| 7th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70182 | James Date | Meris Date | Burghfield Sailing Club | (10.0) | 6.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 28.0 | 18.0 | |
| 8th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70893 | Becky Priest | Ella Saunders | Staunton Harold SC | 5.0 | 7.0 | (8.0) | 7.0 | 27.0 | 19.0 | |
| 9th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70916 | Richard Searle | Rupert Searle | Netley SC | 6.0 | (14.0) | 10.0 | 8.0 | 38.0 | 24.0 | |
| 10th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70989 | Anna Goodwin | Tamsin Rowntree | Burghfield Sailing Club | (13.0) | 11.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 42.0 | 29.0 | |
| 11th | MIRROR (D/H) | 7 | Matt Bromley | Sebastian/Georgina Bromley | Redesmere SC | 9.0 | (15.0) | 13.0 | 9.0 | 46.0 | 31.0 | |
| 12th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70584 | Pete Lindley | Tabitha Lindley | Carsington SC | 8.0 | 10.0 | 14.0 | (17.0 DNF) | 49.0 | 32.0 | |
| 13th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70713 | Lucy Searle | Rosy Searle | Netley SC | 11.0 | (13.0) | 12.0 | 12.0 | 48.0 | 35.0 | |
| 14th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70959 | Zoe Goodwin | Clive Goodwin | Burghfield SC | (16.0) | 16.0 | 11.0 | 10.0 | 53.0 | 37.0 | |
| 15th | MIRROR (D/H) | 69929 | Alan Bennett | Isabelle Fletcher | Staunton Harold SC | 14.0 | 9.0 | (16.0) | 15.0 | 54.0 | 38.0 | |
| 16th | MIRROR (D/H) | 70163 | Jenny Fletcher | Ellie Fletcher | Chichester Yacht Club | (15.0) | 12.0 | 15.0 | 14.0 | 56.0 | 41.0 |
Chew Valley saw the famous red sails return to the lake hosting a two-day Mirror Inlands championship. An entry of 21 boats competed with competitors travelling from 8 different clubs across England & Wales. As storm Babet battered the North of England Chew remained relatively peaceful as the high calibre field, a wash with elite sailors produced close and enjoyable sailing over the two days.
Mirror Inland Championship at Bassenthwaite SC - photos by William Carruthers
There was an entry of twenty boats of which seventeen took to the water. The less than expected numbers are likely to have been due to the forecast of extremely light winds over the two days. Five crews had travelled from other northern clubs.
Yes, there was a short postponement prior to the first race but the breeze built allowing three good races to be completed by late afternoon. Taking account of the forecast for the following day the race officer decided to extend the first day’s racing by adding a fourth start. This made sense but a number of helms felt their young crews had endured enough exercise for one day and didn’t take the start.
Shustoke Sailing Club hosted the Mirror Inlands on the weekend of 30th September to 1st October. Conditions were favourable all weekend with building winds through-out.
Race 1 saw juniors Sandy and Douglas Simpson lead the way with hot favourites Chris and Daisy Fuller having to make a massive recovery. Sandy and Douglas held their own whilst the Fullers managed to squeeze in a last minute second place ahead of local single hander Malcom Coombes right on the line.
