Wayfarer Inland Championship at Northampton Sailing Club, part of the Craftinsure National Circuit
by Sam Pygall 1 Oct 18:12 NZDT
27-28 September 2025
Clementson and Titmus power upwind during the 2025 Wayfarer Inland Championship, supported by Craftinsure © Roger LePla and Liam Wheeler
The 2025 Craftinsure Wayfarer National Circuit had its penultimate round in the form of the Inland Championship hosted by Northampton Sailing Club on Pitsford Reservoir.
The event, held over the weekend of September 27th and 28th, featured a compact but highly competitive fleet and saw the title ultimately decided by very close margins. The event was shared with the Larks and Europes, who also held their Inland Championships over the same weekend.
Northampton Sailing Club provided an excellent setting for our Inland Championship. Sailors were greeted with typical late-September conditions—a crisp autumn atmosphere with temperatures hovering around 15C to 18C. The racing on Pitsford Reservoir delivered the classic inland challenge: shifty, gusty winds that demanded sharp tactical awareness and constant gear changes from the crews. The super efficient Race Committee successfully completed the full complement of five scheduled races over the two days, allowing one discard, with a tweak to the scheduling allowing for four races on the Saturday and a single race on the Sunday based on a light wind forecast on the Sunday.
The entire event ultimately became a thrilling head-to-head battle between two teams: regular fleet front runners John Clementson and Melanie Titmus (Chipstead SC) in Wayfarer 11101, and a scratch pairing of Andrew Wilson and Sam Pygall (Datchet Water SC) in 11093. John and Mel had already tasted victory at the season opener at Datchet, whereas Andrew won the event at Banbury earlier in the season.
Day One saw the tight racing across the fleet. Despite never sailing together previously, Wilson and Pygall kicked off their event with an incredibly tight victory in Race 1 which saw some impressive downwind manoeuvres against John and Mel, with no quarter given. However, John and Mel quickly found their form and moved up a gear, winning Race 2 and Race 3 back-to-back by convincing margins while navigating traffic from the other fleets. The balance shifted again in the penultimate race of the day, Race 4, where Wilson/Pygall secured their second win, while Clementson/Titmus had their worst result of the series, a 3rd place, which they would ultimately discard. The race was effectively won and lost at the first windward mark where a port-standard incident following a long drag race pushed Clementson and Titmus back into the pack. Nigel and Michael O'Donnell benefited from this to take a second behind a calm Wilson and Pygall. At the close of Saturday, the Wilson/Pygall and Clementson/Titmus were tied on points, setting up a winner-takes-all showdown for the final race to be held on the Sunday.
As a result, the tension was high for the final Race 5 on Sunday which proved to be a shoot-out for the Inland Championship title between the two front-running teams. After a competitive start and a tight windward mark rounding in a dying breeze, Clementson and Titmus ultimately delivered a commanding performance, sailing flawlessly to secure their third bullet of the championship. Wilson and Pygall finished 2nd, a result that was not quite enough for Andrew to retain his 2024 Inland Championship title but a sound effort from this scratch pairing.
With the final scores calculated, John Clementson and Melanie Titmus emerged as the 2025 Wayfarer Inland Champions. Great sailing!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Crew | Sail No | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | John Clementson | Melanie Titmus | 11101 | Chipstead SC | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑3 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | Andrew Wilson | Sam Pygall | 11093 | Datchet Water SC | 1 | ‑2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 3rd | Nigel O'Donnell | Michael O'Donnell | 11458 | Swarkestone SC | ‑4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| 4th | Paul Hughes | Josh Lowe | 11129 | Arun YC | 3 | 3 | ‑4 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 5th | Shaun Burland | Andrew Knappet | 10794 | Slaughden SC | 5 | 5 | 5 | (DNC) | 5 | 20 |
The results highlight the consistency of both teams, with Clementson/Titmus prevailing by just one net point thanks to their three first-place finishes.
The Fight for the Podium
The battle for the final spot on the podium was equally tight, with two teams finishing tied on 13 points. Nigel O'Donnell and Michael O'Donnell (Swarkestone SC) and Paul Hughes and Josh Lowe (Arun YC) traded places throughout the weekend. After applying the countback rule, the O’Donnell team claimed the final podium position, pushing Hughes and Lowe into 4th. Shaun Burland and Andrew Knappet (Slaughden SC) rounded out the highly competitive top five for the weekend. Congratulations to all the teams!
Conclusion
The 2025 Craftinsure Wayfarer Inland Championships proved to a true test of consistency and tactical precision on inland waters. Congratulations to John and Mel on their hard-fought victory. A huge thank you is extended to Northampton Sailing Club for their superb hospitality and for the efficient running of the event with a particular call-out to Ricky for all the pre-event and event support, Sarah the Commodore. Roger the Race Officer and Harry and the team of safety crew. Finally, the Wayfarer Class extends its gratitude to the title sponsor, Craftinsure, for their continued support of the National Circuit.
Our final event of the 2025 Craftinsure National Circuit takes place, as per tradition at Bough Beech for the Finale over the weekend of the 8-9th November. Hope to see you there!