Back at home this weekend after 3 consecutive weekends on the water competing in the UK World and European Qualifiers. The first weekend was sailed in Weymouth from the National Sailing Academy, we raced inside the harbour for a change. A great decision by the race officer considering how cold it was, especially compared to Scotland! The racing was hard fought and I am pleased to have finished near the top of the results despite the very shifty and gusty conditions. I finished 4th overall and 3rd U19, very happy!
The second weekend was sailed in the waters of Plymouth, we launched from the Mount Batten Centre. I took the decision to sail a full rig (bigger sail than usual) for that weekend, so that I had the option to compete in the full rig over the summer to aid my transition into the new rig at the end of this year. It also gave me great experience sailing against the current world champion, Nick Thompson! I was extremely happy with my performance, mixing in with the top guys and learning loads along the way. Happy to have finished 15th overall and 5th Youth despite equipment failure in the last race of the event (kicker snapped!).
Last weekend and the last of the spring qualifiers was sailed in tricky conditions in a North Easterly in Stokes Bay. The tricky conditions took there toll on my results after day 1 with me sitting just outside the top ten counting a 14th, 13th and 8th. The Sunday was far better. Seeing similar conditions with a better understanding of what was going on let me piece together 3 solid results. A 2nd, 6th and a 2nd leap frogged me up into 4th overall and 1st Under 19! My best UK result to date, supper pleased!
Next week I travel to Pwllheli in North Wales to compete at the RYA Youth National Championships!
Lewis
Radial Youth Ladder:
Plymouth Qualifier:
http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=83&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/plymstd.2016nh.html