Results / GUL National Inland Championships Draycote Water SC - 02/10/2004

GUL RS300 Inland Championships, Draycote Water SC, October 2nd/3rd The GUL RS300 Inland Championships were held at Draycote Water over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of October and attracted an entry of 16 boats, including several new faces. The racing on Saturday took place in a brisk force 5, gradually easing and produced superb sailing conditions with screaming reaches, a few capsizes and many weary legs by the evening. Gary Fryer showed his speed early in race 1 but an error in recognising the shortened course resulted in Steve Cook taking the gun, with Cliff Shaw second, Fryer third and a dead heat between Richard Pelley and Chris Gandy for fourth. Race 2 saw Shaw win his first race at an RS300 open and with Cook and Pelley close behind, it was a Stokes Bay benefit. Fryer kept in touch with fourth and Greg Barton was fifth. Fryer finally put it all together to win race 3 ahead of Pelley and Shaw, with Barton moving up to fourth. It had been a long hard day, but tremendous fun. Sunday, surprisingly starting with almost no wind and although it gradually built up during the day, it was never going to match Saturday. But the lighter conditions made for much tighter racing, with any mistake losing places. Barton port tacked the fleet off the start line and was right on Cook's transom at the first mark. Cook gradually pulled away for a convincing win ahead of Fryer, Pelley and Barton. Overnight leader Shaw had a nightmare, incurring a 720 penalty and suffering a messy capsize. The battle was hotting up, coming down to a tussle between Fryer and Cook. Fryer took the initiative with a win in the penultimate race to level the points, with Cook a close second ahead of Stephen Cronshaw and the ever consistent Pelley. Down to the last race, where Fryer rose to the occasion with another win. The improving Cronshaw was second ahead of Pelley, Cook and Shaw. At the conclusion of the weekend, Gary Fryer emerged as the worthy winner of the GUL RS300 Inland Championships with a smooth and consistent performance throughout the range of conditions. The fleet were unanimous in their appreciation of the efforts of the Draycote Water race team and praised the quality of the courses. Thanks also go to GUL for their support of our championships. Ian Baillie