The RS700 fleet gathered at Grafham Water over the weekend of the 7th/8th October for the 2006 Inland Championships. As is fast becoming a tradition, every time we come to Grafham, the wind seems always to be bouncing of the 20knots plus mark, and this year the lake did not disappoint with gusts recorded up to 28knots. Race 1 got under way and saw Leigh Albrecht picking the correct path way upwind to round the mark first followed very closely by Matt Humphries, Alex Southon and Andy Peake. By the end of the down wind leg Matt had moved into 1st place. Places changed again upwind with Peake and Southon rounding the bottom mark in front. Peake had a monumental capsize while hosting the kite which took him out of the race leaving Southon to take the line honours with Humphries 2nd. Race 2 again saw Albrecht take an early lead before he capsized at the leeward mark. In stark contrast Peake showed excellent form to sail through the fleet after a disastrous start to take first place followed by Andy Irons and Anthony York. Race 3 saw Humphries and Southon taking the early lead around the windward mark followed by Irons and Nigel Wallbank. Southon got past Humphries as he capsized on the gype which he held for the next few laps while a number of place changes behind him saw Peake come through into 2nd. On the penultimate lap Southon showed the fleet what happens if you let too much Vang off during the bear away allowing Peake and the following bunch to sail through. Peake took the race, followed by Southon and Anthony York. The evening got under way with some serious business, the RS700 AGM followed by the presentation of the 2006 Fat Face circuit prizes. Congratulations to Andy Peake for winning the overall prize and to Paul Haydon for taking the silver division. Sunday dawned with barely a breath of wind and competitors sailed out to the start sitting in the bottoms of their boats rather than trapeezing. As the day warmed up, the breeze did pick up for the start of the first race and continue to build throughout the day. Race 4 started with a very port biased line, those who started on starboard and carried on to the left of the course were looking good until just before they reached the windward mark. At this point they were hit by a large header which gave those who went right the advantage. The race was set for 5 laps of a short course which, when coupled with the very shifty and gusty conditions, gave plenty of opportunity for passing. Pete Perkiss led into the final lap followed by Lee Albrecht and Andy Irons. However the racing was still very close and Matt Humphreys, recovering from an earlier 720, managed to gybe inside these two on the final layline to take second with Leigh in third. The number of laps was up to 6 for race 5 which gave all sailors a headache trying to remember how many they had completed whilst becoming increasingly dizzy. The breeze had increased to a good F4 with some big gusts coming down the run enabling some real gains and losses. Andy Peake won this one from Pete Perkiss in second with Chunky in third. The line was still very pin end biased for the final race and this problem was compounded when a left shift with 30sec to go meant that a large proportion of the fleet was unable to cross the line on starboard tack. Mayhem ensued with one capsized boat as many had to tack onto port and try to find a gap in the line of starboard tackers pinching for the pin. As it happened those who tacked onto port near the pin and found a gap looked up and found that they were on the layline for the windward mark. It was these boats that reached it first. Andy Peake, Pete Perkiss, Jon Heissig and Matt Humphreys then managed to pull out a lead from the chasing pack to have a battle amongst themselves. On the second lap Andy capsized on the windward mark allowing Pete through with Jon in second. A leeward mark incident between Jon and Andy allowed Matt to squeeze through and he then worked his way into first place and built up a comfortable lead over the remaining laps. Andy Peake finished second with Andy Irons in third after Pete Perkiss was judged OCS. Congratulations go to the 2006 Inland champion, Andy Peake and the leader of the Silver Division, Paul Haydon. Our thanks go to the Class sponsors, Gul, and to Grafham Water for putting on such a challenging event.