RESULTS AND REPORTS

Here you can find all past events results and reports.

K1 Midlands area Championships and
Bartley K1 Open 13th June 2021

An excellent turnout of K1’s competed for The K1 Midland Area Championships which was hosted by Bartley Sailing Club on the 13th June.  The heatwave over the country provided light winds from the South West with occasional stronger breezes which filled in from a variety of directions.  The race team did an excellent job to provide three well set courses in these challenging conditions and the launching and recovery chaps were a great bonus.

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The first race got off to an even start with most of the fleet choosing the committee boat end of the line to start.  Jeff Vander Borght and Hilly King chose the pin end in clear wind and worked clear up the beat.   Nick Hoskins however seemed to have his own private wind source and reached the windward mark first only to round it in the wrong direction.  By the time he had re rounded the mark the whole fleet had arrived en masse causing big gains and losses.  Jeff sailed brilliantly playing the lifts and steadily built a considerable lead, however Geoff King kept close enough to keep Jeff honest.  On the final beat Hilly slipped past to take the win closely followed by Jeff and Geoff.

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The second race got away in a slightly stronger winds and this time Jason King, Nick and Hilly had a clear lead at the windward mark.  They sailed the fleet happily off to the wrong mark which caused a certain amount of confusion.  First to react and sail the correct course were Graham Butler and Jeremy Hudson who developed a healthy lead over the rest of the fleet and proceeded to pull away in clear air.  Jeff however was on a mission and sailing very fast as he broke free from the chasing pack and started to reduce the deficit on the two leaders. At the finish Graham took the win followed by Jeremy and the fast closing Jeff.  We are very fortunate to have Jeff in the K1 fleet not only as our supplier, but also a very keen sailing member of the fleet.  He selflessly gave up his last race and therefore chance of victory to help a Bartley member fit out his K1.

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The meeting was wide open and numerous winners were still possible. The lighter slightly more fickle winds returned in a changed direction.  After a small postponement for the race officer to amend the course the fleet got away and Graham and Hilly pulled clear of the pack.  The tussle between these two gave Jeremy and Jason the chance to catch them and slide past developing a comfortable, but fragile lead.  Place changes were frequent with everyone taking up the baton to reign in Jason, Jeremy and Hilly.   Jason sailed into a hole on the last downwind leg giving Hilly the lead on the last windward leg with Jeremy in close attendance.  Hilly led until the very last tack when Jeremy was able to stay in pressure and take the win and with it the Midland Area Championship closely followed by Hilly.

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Jeremy was a worthy winner, Hilly second and Jeff third overall.

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The K1 fleet also present prizes to age categories.  The Masters trophy was also won by Jeremy. The Seniors trophy was won by Jeff and a very popular Alf Hawksworth won the Veterans trophy.

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2021 National Inland Championships

The K1 National Inland Championships took place over the weekend of 22/23rd May at Carsington Water Sailing Club. The Club, guided skilfully by Alf Hawksworth ran a fabulous event in challenging conditions and prevailing Covid regulations.

The weather as the boats arrived on the Friday can only be described as distinctly unpleasant, driving rain and severe gusts. Nevertheless three hardy K1 souls braved the conditions to have a practice on the wonderful sailing area.

Saturday dawned and the wind and rain had abated so 23 eager competitors took to the water to sail three back to back races. After careful course laying by the race officers the first race got underway with Simon Hawkes and Ian Duke pushing each other at the front of the fleet. In close attendance were the always fast Paul Birbeck, Ben Hawkes and Jeff Vander Borght (who was sailing one of the new Ovington made boats). Place changes throughout the competitive fleet were frequent but at the end Simon and Ian had sailed an incorrect course giving the win to Paul, followed by Ben and Jeff.

Race 2 got underway in similar conditions and this time Paul sailed a masterclass leading from the start never to be caught. Simon and Ian closed the gap but Paul already had a good lead so the finishing order was Paul, Simon and Ian.

After a significant wind shift race 3 got underway with Jeff leading the fleet and establishing a comfortable lead. Simon however was not to be denied and caught Jeff on the last beat. The tussle between the two allowed Ben to slip into second, so finishing order this time was Simon, Ben and Jeff. At the end of day one Ben was the overnight leader, although two bullets from Paul looked mighty impressive.

Sunday arrived with a significant increase in wind strength and a forecast for building wind throughout the day. The fleet started the three back to back races knowing that the Championship was wide open with numerous potential winners. We are also a class who celebrate our demographic so age prizes would also be determined by the end of the day.

Race 4 proved to be the barometer for the day with a battle royal between Simon and Paul with Dave Stockton, Jeff and Ian in close attendance. At the finish Simon took the bullet, Paul was second and Dave in third.

Race 5 was almost a mirror of the previous race at the front of the fleet with Simon and Paul showing great consistency and speed. Others were keeping the front runners honest but at the finish it was Simon first followed by Paul and Dave who had never been out of the top five.

The last race had to be postponed as the wind strength increased still further and the committee boat was being blown off station for a while. Once away the fleet enjoyed the lively conditions. The championship was now firmly between Simon and Paul but clearly places throughout the fleet would decided as only one discard was allowed.

At the finish Simon just edged Paul with Ben finishing very fast to take third place.

Overall Simon Hawkes was a very worthy champion followed by Paul, Ben, Dave and Jeff. The first four overall are all members of Wimbleball Sailing Club showing a huge depth of talent .

The over 60 years of age category was won by Dave. The over 65 years of age category was won by Jeff and Alf Hawksworth got the biggest cheer winning the over 70 age category.

The K1 is a great boat which handles the range of conditions brilliantly, demonstrated by the close racing throughout the fleet regardless of the conditions. It was also agreed that the new Ovington boats are extremely attractive and of a good build quality. The K1 is in good hands and it was demonstrated the boats are all of a similar speed regardless of age. If you have the ability you will win. Congratulations Simon Hawkes our Inland Champion.

It was great to catch up with old and new faces after a challenging time due to Covid.

We look forward to more faces joining us for the open events which are held all over the country.

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Below are just a taster pictures. See "gallery" for full pictures.

K1 Lockdown Championships 2020 Yachts & Yachting report.

K1 Lockdown Championships 2020

The K1 National Lockdown Championships 2020 were held over the weekend of 19th/20th September 2020. The format was agreed between Geoff King (K1 event organiser) and Simon Lovesey (Sailracer) that members would sail at their own club, in club races and each individual K1 would carry a tracker supplied by Sailracer.  Clearly each sailor followed Covid Government / RYA rules and guidelines to ensure safety was maintained at all times.

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The competitors were briefed by the organisers to try and ensure that everyone sailed similar courses, albeit with the geographical restrictions of each location.  Each Club lead plotted the racing area of their own club to ensure Sailracer could monitor courses and in turn sustained speed, distance and elapsed time each individual has sailed.

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The wind conditions varied dramatically all over the country with competitors in Lyme Regis experiencing gusts of over 30knots and in contrast those competing at Tewkesbury and Windermere were racing in very light conditions.

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Once all the races had been completed Sailracer were able to compile the results and apply the required handicapping to allow for wind speed, distance and venue direction of travel sailed.  This algorithm has been fine tuned from the use of trackers in the “sailjuice” series over a number of seasons.

Some notable results were Guy Woodhouse (Lyme Regis SC ) who achieved sustained speeds of up to 15 knots, his description of the race included likening it to riding a rodeo bull with a really strong fan providing 30knots of wind, coupled with friends throwing buckets of cold water at you regularly!

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Alf Hawksworth (Carsington SC) sailed the furthest distance covering just under 12 miles in testing conditions.  He stated he knew he was doing well and it had been a really energetic day.  I think that is as always very modest and understated as Alf also took third place overall.

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Clearly the club of the day was Rutland Water SC who experienced consistent winds between force 4/5 and provided not only the overall winner in Michael Alexander but also David Pritchett,  the Chairman of the K1 Class Association in fourth place overall.

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The top five places overall were as follows:

1st Michael Alexander           Rutland SC

2nd Mike Commander           Teign Corinthian SC

3rd Alf Hawksworth               Carsington SC

4th David Pritchett                 Rutland SC

5th Mike Beckett                    Datchet Water SC

The virtual prizegiving was held on Tuesday 22nd September and thanks were expressed by all who competed to both Geoff and Simon for a really enjoyable event.

Geoff had made a fabulous trophy which will be making its way to Michael, a deserved winner of the first of what will become a regular event in the K1 calendar.

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Hilly King

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Photos to follow.

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