Cherub Inland Championships at Queen Mary Sailing Club

Marmite wins the Cherub Inland Championships 2012 © Hannah Jenkins

15 Cherubs made the annual visit to Queen Mary SC for the Cherub 2012 Inland Championship. Sharing the facilities with 14 B14s made for a lively bar and a busy race track.

On Saturday the wind could only be described as sub-epic, blowing 0-5knts from wherever it pleased. Even so, three races got underway with the light wind specialists rubbing their hands with glee (or they may have just been cold) and those geared towards more heavy weather, rubbing prophylactic ibuprofen gel into their soon-to-be-sore joints.

The racing was hotly contested at the front of the fleet with Paul Croote and Tom Hole in Marmite taking race 1 from Peter and Paul Jenkins in Ronin and Andy And Jill Peters in Usagi.

Race 2 saw Ronin get some revenge with a good win and Phil Kirk with new crew Callum Bennett in E-numbers coming in second. Usagi took 3rd with National Championship winners Graham and Eddie Bridle in Riot Van nipping at their heels in 4th.

Race 3 was Ronin’s again meaning they were top of the pack overnight. The crews retired for curry and rum (not at the same time), nursing cramped limbs and hoping that the next day would bring a 15kt breeze and blazing sunshine.

However, Sunday like Saturday dawned windless and grey. During a well observed 2 minute silence the wind filled in from the west to give somewhere around the 5 knots needed to allow the eager race officer to get the racing underway.

The first race was a closely fought battle between Marmite, Riot Van and Ronin with much place changing during the 4 laps. At the bottom mark Riot Van had a boat length on Marmite, but during the frantic tacks for the line Paul stuffed his tiller extension up his life jacket and fell in, leaving the door open for Ronin to take 2nd.

The wind held for a 2nd race where a similar battle ensued. This time Marmite took it from Riot Van and Ronin 3rd. Further down the fleet Nick Pratt and Jo Hutchinson in Madge and Ben and Sam Rushton in Atum Bom were fighting it out for the scraps with Madge pulling a great move at the bottom mark to sail over the top of Atum and take the place.

The wind didn’t hold so well for Race 3 where it dropped to Saturday’s levels. A mighty battle was happening at the front between Marmite, Usagi, Ronin, E-Numbers and Ade and Joe White in Sweet Dreamzz, and the race was thankfully shortened to 3 laps with Usagi taking line honours from Marmite and E-Numbers in 3rd. After a brief visit to the club house between races, Atum was caught short. They still had their kite up heading for the start line as the gun went. 23 seconds late wasn’t bad considering they only left shore after the 5 minute warning.

This weekend showed that some of the older boats can still turn it on big time. Sweet Dreamzz in particular was first to the top mark and beat many of the 05 boats more than once. Suicide Blonde also showed impressive speed in the hands of new owners Alex and Johnny Harris all the way from Liverpool.

This was a fantastic event. The attendance of 15 boats is representative of the increasing numbers at Cherub events throughout 2012. In six races there were 4 different winning boats in 4 different hull designs, first place was decided on count back and 3rd and 4th separated only by a point. This demonstrates the high quality of sailing in the fleet and the close competitive racing, and with at least three new boats being built this winter the 2013 season is already looking very exciting.

Thanks to QMSC for hosting and to the B14s for their company. The next Cherub event is class training at Weir Wood SC on 16th and 17th February 2013. This promises to be a great opportunity to work on technique and tactics for the new season – with the racing so close, every little helps.

Overall Results: