BRITISH KEELBOAT LEAGUE FINALS

Last weekend Miles Jones, James Holmes, Ross Slater and myself travelled down to Cowes on the Isle of Wight to race against some of the top keelboat sailors in Britain at the RYA British Keelboat League Finals.

It is a relatively new race format, with a number of qualification events taking place across the UK throughout the year. All of which lead to the final in Cowes.

The Edinburgh team had placed an entry for one of the qualification events held in Scarborough earlier on in the year, which was unfortunately cancelled. Due to the cancelation, and being unable to attend the other qualification events, the team were lucky to be offered a wild card entry for the final. This opportunity was not to be turned down and I was very grateful to be asked to be a part of the team.

The event consisted of 18 teams, 3 days of racing, and 36 races. The Royal Thames Yacht Club hosted the event with 8 extremely well looked after J70 sports boats. This meant that a round robin was in order to ensure that all 18 teams had the chance to sail against one another. The logistics of the team change overs were slick and allowed each team to sail a total of 16 races, creating a perfectly even series across the weekend.

We kicked off the event with a bang, finishing 2nd in our first race. Bearing in mind that only one of us had sailed a J70 before, and it was our first sail together as a team, we were pretty happy! We continued the day with a 7th, 2nd, 6th, 1st, and a 7th, a pretty mixed day to say the least. However, we were happy with our form and the mistakes that led to our poorer results were easily rectified for the following days.

Day 2 was a frustrating day for the race committee, with fickle winds in the morning. We were held under a postponement on the water for a short while until the breeze filled in to around 7/8 knots from the North East. The way the round robin worked out, our team had a 7 race gap until our first race of the day, which equates to around 2 hours. We used this time wisely to have a short nap on the change over boat and re-energise ourselves from our 6am wake up for the first race. We had 4 races on day 2 with us scoring 4, 4, 1, 8. We were slightly more consistent than the previous day which was good, and our crew work was far better than the day prior, a big improvement in that! However the lighter winds and tidal conditions proved difficult for us and drastically reduced the margin for error - there were still some nuggets to work on for the final day.

The last day of racing was a great day for us, we had a moderate breeze in the morning building substantially throughout the day to a nice 15 knots. Our team had completed 10 races so far which left us with 6 to race on day three. We scored a 2nd, 4th, 6th, 2nd, 4th, and finished the event off with a 1st - a lovely way to end the regatta. Our final day was our best day yet, jumping us from 8th overall to 6th; and although there was still room for development we had all improved drastically compared to the first day.

All in all we were extremely happy with our performance, finishing 6th overall. We went into the regatta with little expectations; which, in hindsight, probably helped us a lot. The regatta was superbly run, the other teams were great to be around, and it was a pleasure spending time with such great lads!

Credit to Sportography for all the photos!

Thanks for reading,

Lewis

U21 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Under 21 Europeans; my last event as an under 21, and the final big laser event for me this summer. After a few days training down South with the U21 squad, Joe and I made our way on a somewhat convoluted journey to Båstad, Sweden. We arrived 3 days before racing in order to get some training in and find our feet before the regatta kicked off!

Day 1
The first day of qualifying did not go to plan at all. I counted a 24th and an 18th in a fleet where top 10’s were easily attainable and top 5’s were within grasp. It was frustrating to say the least, and I was definitely not in my favoured mindset that evening.

Day 2
Nonetheless, I shifted my focus back to the job in hand and left day 1 behind. Day two was a better day, with me counting a 12th and a 13th, which left me 34th overall. I still wasn’t where I wanted to be, but it was a big jump from where I was which got me pumped for the rest of the regatta.

Day 3
Day 3 was the last day of qualifying for Gold and Silver fleet. Although I knew within myself I should have been higher up the fleet, the reality of the situation was that I was treading on the line between gold and silver. If I put in similar or better results than the previous day then I would move up again, closer to where I wanted to be. After 2 races in glamour conditions I scored a 13th and a 10th, which placed me in 28th overnight and in gold fleet.

Day 4
The first day of gold fleet racing was a good one, and I was feeling race sharp and fast. We had 2 races with the wind coming off shore. The race course was predominantly left hand favoured with the wind funnelling down a valley off Båstad. I clocked onto the gain feature early on and was able to capitalise on it with a reasonable amount of success throughout the races. I scored a 15th and a 14th which put me 23rd.

Day 5
The penultimate day started off with a postponement due to lack of wind. We had a light breeze blowing onshore that slowly picked up during the afternoon. After a couple of hours waiting around we managed to launch and sail 1 race in 5-10 knots. It was an interesting race with the top two boats coming from the far right and the far left on the first beat. I was able to slot myself into the top 10 at the windward mark before the wind lightened off. On the second lap the wind shut off and I found myself in a large clump of boats which dropped me down to 20th. I finished the fifth day in 25th overall.

Day 6
The final day was dominated by very unstable conditions. There were numerous squalls passing over the night before with massive amounts of rain and substantial increases in wind. But our race was relatively stable considering the conditions. We launched on time for our first race, and after a short postponement due to a large wind shift we got underway. I strung together a solid first beat but I wasn’t able to hold my position for the remainder of the race, I finished up 22nd.

After a 3 hour wait for the other fleets to finish and the race committee to rotate the course we eventually found ourselves lining up for a second time. It was an interesting race to say the least, I sailed the first beat on the back foot after a poor start and rounded the windward mark in around 20th. On the second leg we were being chased by a huge black (and I don’t just mean dark grey - I mean BLACK) rain cloud. We rounded the reach mark for the first downwind leg and it hit us. The rain pelted down like bullets, the wind swung right and picked up to around 25-30knots. There were a lot of people deciding to take a dip and a huge pile up of 4 or 5 boats at the leeward mark. This was good for me, I rounded the mark with no issues and sailed my self into the top 10. I kept the stick in air for the remainder of the race before getting to the final leg of the course. The finish line eventually came into view through the rain and they were waving the flag signalling to us that they had abandoned our race. Very frustrating, but what can you do.  It was a fun race to finish up the championship!

Looking back on the event it was enjoyable. Although not the outcome I wanted at all, it was a nice end to my Under 21 career. The regatta presented us with a range of conditions which were all tricky in their own ways. There was good things and bad things, a lot of bad things; but that just means more room for improvement over the winter period!  Kudos to the lads at the front of the fleet, and to the organisers for putting on a great event!

Thanks for reading,

Lewis

Standerd U21 Results:

http://seglarveckanbastad.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/laseru21m2018.pdf

UK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The UK Nationals finally fell in line with my calendar this year, and it’s a good job they did because it was a great event! We completed 10 out of the 12 scheduled races and had an abundance of wind and sunshine when we were on the water.

We launched for the first days racing in glamour conditions and sailed 2 races beyond the breakwater. I scored a 6th in the first race and won the second race, which put me 2nd overall going into day 2.

The second day was quiet on the sailing front. Due to a lack of wind on the race course, the committee made the decision at 3.30 to postpone racing until the next day.

The lack of racing the previous day meant that we were scheduled for 3 races instead of 2 on day three. With good, steady wind we completed all 3 with ease. Unfortunately, on the first race I missed out on a gain feature towards the top right of the beat and slipped down the fleet to 15th. In the remaining two races I scored a 4th and a 7th, which ranked me 4th on the overall rankings.

Another three races were scheduled for day 4 in order to get us back on track. With yet more champagne sailing conditions, it was a stunning day on the water. I topped it off with some reasonable results; I placed 2nd, 4th, and 6th in the 3 races which kept me in 4th overall.

Unfortunately sailing on day 5 was once again not to be as the race committee decided to postpone racing until the final day. However, it wasn’t all bad as we had a gala dinner that evening! It was unusual to see everyone suited and booted instead of in the usual sailing kit! 

The final day involved 2 races, the first with steady wind and a certain degree of predictability. But race 2 was a different story. We started the race in around 7 knots before it shut off entirely. Our first leg, which is usually 10-15 minutes, lasted a lengthy 30 minutes! Our course was shortened on the 3rd leg to enable us to finish within the time limit. Not the best of conditions to finish the week off with, but that didn’t detract from the sunshine we had had all week. I scored a 2nd in race one and a shoddy 14th in race two. This kept me in 4th overall in what was a brilliant week of racing.

After the Nationals had finished it was time for a short break before getting prepared for the Under 21 European Championships towards the end of August.

Thanks for reading!

Lewis

Standard Results:

https://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=107&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/stdnats.18nh.html

U21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

l'll be honest, it wasn't the easiest regatta I’ve competed in.  The hardest aspect to deal with was by far the strategical challenges and in particular the mental toll that these took. You start to question yourself a lot more when you make numerous wrong decisions, and it was really hard to keep the confidence up during the event and bounce back.  I've had some time at home to reflect back on the event, and this is what I thought...

It was a tough regatta, with the majority of competitors scoring highly throughout the week.  Unfortunately, through my own errors I picked up a black flag disqualification on day 2 which put me into silver fleet for the second half of the week.  I then picked up my second yellow flag of the regatta on a recalled start, the penalty of which is to retire from the race.  With the regatta only allowing 1 race to be discarded, I was forced to count my retirel (a wholesome 70 points!).

Despite all those bad points, there were some good points too. I had one day during the regatta where I smashed my strategy. I felt fast and my race plans were piecing together. However, despite my best efforts, one of those races was unfortunately the black flag disqualification that I picked up.  But black flags aside, there are big positives to take from that day alone.  It was a day where no plan was a good plan, in the pre-start of both races there was no obvious gain features.  Go with what you know, not what you think was the best plan of action.  I decided to start in the middle of the line to keep my options open and kept my eyes out of the boat to lock onto the first gain.  And lo and behold, in both races, the wind filled in towards the top right of the beat and I was able to use it to my advantage.  It was one of the more unpredictable days, so I was happy to be able to show some form, despite the letters on my score card…

With all that being said I have learned a great deal from the event, particularly how to effectively carry out weather analysis by taking it one step further and linking it to my race plan.  Onwards and upwards!

Thanks for reading,

Lewis

Under 21 Gold Results:

https://gdyniasailingdays.org/en/results/laseru21/men

Under 21 Silver Results:

https://gdyniasailingdays.org/en/results/laseru21/men-silver

KIELER WOCHE 2018

It’s been a tough old week to say the least... A seriously high quality fleet combined with strong winds everyday made for an extremely fun week of racing, but jeez was it hard!

The regatta entailed 4 days of racing with a medal race on day 5.  The first two days were the qualifying series  to decide gold and silver fleet with the following two days being battled out in the respective fleets.

Day 1

Kiel is an incredible regatta, with a brilliant setup and atmosphere, but one downside is the commute to the race course.  Day 1 saw us sail an hour out to the race course and an hour and a half back, but it was well worth it.

Once we rounded the headland we were greeted by some big waves and big wind.  My qualifying races weren’t my best; and that definitely showed in the first two races, with my poorest starts of the regatta.  However, I felt relatively fast and managed to gain a lot of places back throughout the races.

Day 2

The second day was a bit of a waiting game.  It was a stormy looking day with large, black clouds dominating the sky and a strong breeze across the race course.  The committee held the lasers ashore and rotated most of the classes around on the inshore course that was more sheltered.  It wasn’t until 6.45pm that the race committee launched our fleet.  The late start made it pretty hard to get into race mode; but some dinner before racing and a coffee sorted me right out!

The two races weren’t my best results, but I was chuffed with my starts.  Although they were good, and a big improvement on the previous days, I wasn’t able to convert them in the end.  But it’s all learning!  After the late start and 2 races, we didn’t get ashore until 10pm, which is the latest I’ve been racing by a long shot.

Day 3

The first day of silver fleet racing was a bit of a mixed bag.  We had 1 race on Charlie course, around the headland in some BIG waves and 1 race on Juliet course, further inland with small chop and some mega shifts.

Race 1 was super fun and I was mixing it up with the front runners which was brilliant, even though it’s only silver fleet!  The big waves and big wind made it one of the more physical races, the legs were definitely feeling the burn.

The wind picked up a touch so the race committee decide to move us inshore to Juliet course.  It was incredibly shifty and felt a bit like snakes and ladders.  I got one of my best starts at a senior level regatta which was great, but again I struggled to convert it into a good result.

Day 4

Shattered is an understatement, but day 4 was a good day, my best of the regatta!  The day started off with 15-20 knots of breeze which lighted off during the second race to about 10-15 knots, a bit of a relief on the legs.  I finished 6th and 8th in the two races; a nice way to finish what was a very tough week of racing.  

Although I didn’t make the Gold fleet and my performance wasn’t my best, I am super happy with how I’ve performed against my process goals. This regatta is all about getting sharp and refining small things in preparation for the Under 21 World Championships next week in Poland.

Today we were lapping up the sun in Kiel before we travel across to Gydina tomorrow.  I’m feeling good for next week; roll on the Worlds, racing starts on the 3rd!

Lewis

Standard Results: 

 http://manage2sail.com/en-US/event/kiwo18#!/results?classId=StdM

DELTA LLOYD REGATTA

After a busy period of exams at University during May I was itching to get away and race again.  Fortunately Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, Netherlands fell at just the right time for me to be able to do so!  I flew down to Southampton on the 21st and hitched a ride with 2 Boys in a Skiff over to Medemblik.

On Day 1 we were greeted with 15 knots of breeze which brought some choppy waves.  I was relatively cautious with my starts to begin with and struggled with the waves upwind which made the racing a lot harder for myself.  I did however, feel fast Downwind and took places on the downwind legs.

The second day brought much the same conditions than the first and I was able to increase the pressure of my starts (starting further towards the favoured end) without having many other variables change around me.  I managed to nail a pin end start in race 4 which I was super happy about!  The waves were offset to the wind direction slightly more than day 1,  this resulted in me matching my speed with the top guys when the waves were side on but yet again struggling with the waves on the nose on the other tack.

Day 3 started with a pleasant 7 – 11 knots of wind with some small choppy waves  –  a lovely rest for the legs after the first 2 days.  Similar to the previous day I was increasing the pressure of my starts trying to hold my position on the line for longer.  I made some good progress in my holding technique, especially given that the seniors do this very differently to what I am used to, it was great to get the experience at such a high level!

The penultimate day was very different with 5-8 knots from the North East.  Very much a risk versus reward kind of day, which I took advantage of but I also lost out on too!  The wind died as the day progressed and tacks and gybes played more and more of a part in the racing, definitely something to work on for the future.

The 5th and final days racing consisted of 15+ knots from the South West and some big steep choppy waves.  I executed my best start of the regatta and probably my best at a senior regatta, so super happy!  Managed to hold with good flow, and punch out at the favoured end of the line which let me tack onto the first shift and execute my strategy as planned.  So all in all a good day!

The atmosphere of the event was brilliant and the racing was super super competitive (we had 8 Olympians in our fleet!).  The schedule of the event was thought out very well and allowed us to watch some of the medal races for the other classes which was great fun.  An amazing regatta and an event I definitely want to do again, hopefully my exams will fall at a good time next year – fingers crossed!

It has been purely a process regatta for me this year so just the learning points to take from the event and work on in the coming weeks.  Next up is a busy training phase back in Scotland in the build up to the Under 21 European and World Championships .  Thank you for reading!

Lewis

RYA SCOTLAND SPRING CHAMPIONSHIPS

After a week of unwinding after the Youth Nationals it was time for the first UKLA Scottish Grand Prix event.  This was coupled with the RYA Scotland Spring Championships, all held on Loch Venachar over the weekend.

It was a brilliant weekend with some amazing sailing, superb winds and old friends.  We had full 40 min races (which is often unusual for a Scottish Grand Prix) and some great race management, which made the weekend all that more enjoyable.

This event was also my first time trying out the new Carbon Composite mast.  In the past I have been using aluminium masts, but the class rules have changed and the Laser have introduced the new composite top section, exciting times!  It felt much the same as the old one, but the plan is to do some extensive testing against the old one in the coming months.

It was nice to top the weekend off with a Gold medal after an almost perfect scoreline.  Big thanks to all the volunteers and RYA for organising the event,  and nice to see so may boats out on the water!

Lewis

Laser Standard Results:

http://enter.sailracer.org/ResultsEntry/ResultViewer/125935

YOUTH NATIONALS HAYLING ISLAND

It really didn’t feel like a year had past since the last youth nationals, its getting harder to keep track of the time!  Nevertheless I arrived to a very sunny and warm Hayling Island for my first U21 event in the Laser Standard class.  I was feeling good going into the regatta, lots of time on the water over the winter and some really high quality training.

Before the racing started on Monday I had a few days training on the water along with a few bike rides to spin the legs out after the light wind sessions.  It was also the first event with me sporting the new Engine 710 decals on the new hull and the trailer, big shout out to Ben for sorting my trailer out at his new workshop!

We had a mix of conditions throughout the week, from light to heavy winds and shifty to steady winds; it was great to get a spread of conditions over the regatta!  I found the racing and the changing conditions pretty tough to say the least and didn’t quite feel at my best.  I struggled with my race strategy and always seemed to be on the back foot.  However, it was brilliant experience in a popular racing venue – especially with the added pressure of selections.

In the end it wasn’t quite the outcome I was hoping for.  I finished 12th overall, very disappointing considering that I am more than capable of a top 5 finish.  Unfortunately I haven’t been re-selected for the British Youth Sailing Team this summer, which is hard to take. But that only means it’s onwards and upwards from here!

Lewis

2017 Youth Nationals Laser:

http://events.sailracer.org/eventsites/results-rya.asp?eventid=208951&class=Laser

UK WORLD + EUROPEAN SPRING QUALIFIERS

After a busy week at uni with graded presentations it was nice to get out racing again for the second qualifier of the year.  I travelled down a little earlier this time around and flew on Thursday evening – this meant myself and some of the other laser guys could get some training in on Friday.  Racing began on Saturday and we were sent out into Weymouth Bay where we completed 1 race.   After race 1 the visibility became very poor and racing was abandoned for the day unfortunately, but thats the game we play!

Sunday was slow to start with poor visibility again and very little wind, we were held ashore until some breeze filled in from the West.  The fleet eventually got 3 great races sailed inside Weymouth harbour, but me being I me I managed to disqualify myself from the second race for being to punchy on the start line.  Not ideal.

Nevertheless I was very happy with how I sailed over the weekend – especially with my starts (bar the black flag disqualification).  My starts are what I wanted to work on so its great to be able to feel them going well, particularly under some pressure of a very high quality fleet.  Very happy to have finished up 13th overall and 4th Under 21, even with a black flag!

The week following the Weymouth qualifier was testing week in the gym which all went to plan!  The testing led nicely into a breezy qualifier at Stokes Bay, definitely some heavy feeling legs!  Saturday brought 3 races in great conditions with 15 – 20 knots of wind and the infamous solent tides.  I struggled in the breezy conditions to say the least.  My boat handling on the start line felt pretty rusty and that didn’t set me up very well for the rest of the races.  Disappointing to be so far down the results with a  26th, 23rd and 17th but I’m happy its exposed some weaknesses to work on in time for summer!

I arrived at the club on Sunday, rigged up ready to go and tried my hardest to ignore the 30+ knots that was whistling around.  That 30 knots didn’t ease off, and we were left in the hands of a vote – to go sailing or to call it a day.  The vote swayed in favour of staying ashore, and soon after the official flags were hoisted and everyone was sent on their way.  With such an early call off, it left my mum and I with a bunch of time before our flight later that evening, so we decided to spend the day in Portsmouth!

The weekend following was spent back at home, with the next spent in the West coast for a Scottish Keelboat Academy Weekend just before travelling back down South for the Youth Nationals.

Lewis

Weymouth Qualifier:
http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=94&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/wpnsa2std.2017nh.html

Stokes Bay Qualifier
http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=95&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/stbaystd.17nh.html

Standard Ladder 2017:
http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=95&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/stdlad3.2017nh.html

A WEEK IN WEYMOUTH

It’s been a while, time for a wee catch up…

After my training with Alexi at the Royal Forth Yacht Club it was time for my second semester at Edinburgh University to kick off. With Uni ongoing with assignments and deadlines dotted around I spent two of my weekends at home and sailed out of Royal Forth. I had one weekend spent sailing with the university at a team racing event which was a change to the usual laser! Another weekend was spent coaching the current Scottish Laser Development Team and training with the Scottish Keelboat Academy. It was great to get a wide variety of experience on the water in different boats and different disciplines.

After that busy block it was very quickly the middle of February and I was faced with a weeks trip down to Weymouth for the first World and European Qualifier of 2017 and the second Under 21 UK Youth Squad camp for this winter.

After a short wait for wind on Saturday the committee held 2 races in Weymouth Bay, The racing on Sunday was held in the harbour with a nice westerly breeze instead of the southerly breeze like the day prior. Over the weekend we completed 5 out of the 6 scheduled races in nice mild weather! I sailed a relatively consistent series with a 15th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 19th which put me 16th overall and 7th Under 21.

Monday through to Wednesday was a solid block of training with some nice big sessions in Weymouth Bay.  Thursday was blown off due to storm Doris but we had some beneficial land sessions and the time allowed me to get on with some boat prep!

With the week over I was back in the books with two presentations counting towards my grade during the week following the qualifier.

Lewis

Weymouth Qualifier:
http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=93&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/stdwpnsa1.2017nh.html

UK WORLD + EUROPEAN AUTUMN QUALIFIERS

Another trio of Qualifiers has come to an end.  It has to be said that the competition is a lot harder now that I have moved into the Standard class – the racing is very tight!  The first weekend loomed just as I was starting to settle into my new flat at university.  Mum and I left on Friday evening and shared the drive, albeit a short one, to South Shields Sailing Club in Newcastle – it was nice to have a weekend a little further North than usual.

We arrived at the sailing club on the Saturday morning, the conditions were light with large offset swell from the night before.  These unusual conditions made the racing a little more interesting than normal.  Although very ironic; the large swell, combined with the light winds, didn’t get on very well with my stomach and I ended up being pretty ill on the water.  However, I was determined to finish the days racing and get on with it.  I finished the day in a disappointing 23rd overall and 9th Under 19.  Sadly the conditions were not in our favour and the racing was cancelled on Sunday.

The next qualifier followed 3 weeks later in Hayling Island.  It was great racing across the weekend with good wind – even the sun popped out for a while.  It was a brilliant turn out with 45 Standards competing!

Saturday brought 10-15 knots of breeze that decreased to 6-8 by the end of the day.  The racing was made very strategic because of large pressure differences across the course, the tide played a big part nearing the end of the day’s racing.  I was very happy to finish day one in 8th overall and 2nd under 19.  Day 2 brought similar conditions with slightly more breeze than the previous day.  I finished day 2 with a 13th, 16th and 17th which dropped me down the results a bit to 13th overall and 3rd under 19.  Although it would have been nice to stick 8th overall I’m pretty pleased with 13th!

The 6th and final qualifier of the year was held in Pwllheli, North Wales with a far smaller fleet than the qualifier before.  The conditions on Saturday were big waves along with 14 knots of wind coming from the South.  Being underweight for the boat didn’t help me in my efforts to put in good results on day one; I scored a 12, 12 and 22.  I feel as though I could have sailed a lot better strategically and tactically and looking back on it I know where I went wrong!  The event was cut short and no races were sailed on Sunday due to too much wind.  I finished the event in 15th overall and 4th under 19.

Having sailed 4 out of the 6 qualifiers in a Standard this year it has allowed me to be ranked on the ladder without having to discard a race that I didn’t compete (DNC) in.  I am currently 14th in the UK and 2nd under 19 in the UK!

I am extremely happy to say that my results from these qualifiers along with my summer results have got me selected onto the Under 21 UK Youth Squad!  This means lots of training down South alongside the Olympic Podium Potential Team, super exciting!

Thanks for reading!

Lewis

Standard Ladder 2016:

http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=89&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/stdlad6.2016nh.html

KIELER WOCHE 2016

Just finished an intense 4 week block of sailing, exhausted is an understatement!

It all started straight off the back of the Mull trip in my last post.  I sailed with Jamie Calder out of our home club, Royal Forth Yacht Club (RFYC) for the first of the 4 weeks where we settled back into the boats after a long time spent away from the water due to exams.  We had amazing conditions, just like always on the Forth, good breeze and nice waves; even the sun popped out for a short while at the beginning of the week.  We were fortunate enough to have Tim Hulse come up from down south to coach us on two of the days, he helped us refine our sailing in preparation for our trip to Germany the following week.

Part 2 consisted of my trip to Germany for Kieler Woche with Jamie and Calum Rosie.  Kiel week is an amazing experience! If you have the chance to go for any reason at all, GO!  We drove from Edinburgh down to Newcastle and hopped on an overnight ferry that took us into Amsterdam.  About 7 hours later we arrived in Kiel where we set up camp in the van and the awning.

Our trip to Germany involved 2 international regattas, 9 days of back to back racing, 1 day of training before hand and my birthday.  I sailed in the open Radial event first, it was a pretty windy few days which suited me well and I was very very happy to achieve my best international result to date by finishing 5th overall out of a fleet of 120!

The second regatta was with the big boys… the olympic class week.  I sailed in the 110 strong Laser Standard fleet, 5 of which are competing in the Rio Olympics.  It was a big learning curve for me with this being my 3rd full rig event and my first international event.  Not a result to take away but a lot to work on, which is exciting!

I was shattered by the last day, but I have to say it was great to spend the trip with these guys!

The end of my 4 week block of sailing included: packing up in Kiel, my flight home and another amazing weekend spent on the Forth training with Jamie and Tim Hulse.  We had great conditions (bar the rain) with some big waves and strong winds.  A very windy Sunday saw Jamie and I sail through a squall that an easy jet flight about to land in Edinburgh had to change course and avoid, I’m pretty certain its the fastest I’ve gone in my laser!  Great fun and lots of good points to take away and work on.

I have a couple of weeks at home before I leave again for the 2 remaining international regattas.  Until then I’ll be doing some coaching, yacht sailing at RFYC and carrying on my work in the gym. So keep checking in for more updates soon!

Lewis

Radial Open Results:

http://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/3d6e4588-3363-4d3d-afad-8e656da38cba/#!/results?classId=447515ad-f7da-4d61-9ac4-8f5b5a7f3789

Standard Results:

http://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/3d6e4588-3363-4d3d-afad-8e656da38cba/#!/results?classId=b503aa7f-fabd-4e20-b9cc-7becae318f69

ISLE OF MULL CYCLING SPORTIVE

Exams are done! Phew.  I had my last exam, Physical Education, on Friday.  I also sat Geography, Graphic Communications and Computing Science at the beginning of May, all at SQA Higher level.  Definitely feeling the sailing withdrawal symptoms after a month of hard revision!  During May I was lucky enough that my exams landed me a nice 2 week gap at the half way stage allowing me to sit my driving test with enough time either side for minimal stress.  I’m pleased to say I passed first time!  But before I get too carried away on four wheels trailing up and down the country, I decided to spend last weekend on two wheels instead.

I spent the weekend with a close friend of mine, Tom, who’s a former training partner.  We travelled to the Isle of Mull which, on this occasion, greeted us with a very pleasant 20+ degrees.  Tom and I travelled over to take part in the 70km (44mile) sportive cycling event that takes place on Mull every year.  It was a great weekend out in the sun and allowed me to continue my cardio fitness on the bike, but just a little further a field.

I now look forward to a very busy summer ahead, involving 4 international regattas!  But before I travel to the first of these events in Kiel, Germany I have a few days training with Jamie Calder at home, sailing out of Royal Forth Yacht Club.

Lewis

Full results here:

http://www.mullcyclosportive.co.uk/Results.html

Kudos to Tom for 2nd Place!

YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS PWLLHELI

Just back from a busy couple of weeks training for, and competing in the Youth National Championships in North Wales.  The week prior was spent training with fellow Scottish sailors Clemmie Thompson and Anna Sturrock with coach Tim Ellis (photo credit to Tim!).  We were lucky enough to use the new Garmin Virb GPS Cameras, the content was great to analyse after sailing.  We were able to compare video evidence of techniques and see how it affected our speed.  They were also helpful in gauging what side of the course was favoured as we could overlay each sailors GPS track along with their speed.  Very technical but a great tool.

The Racing started on Monday and we sailed in some very light breeze that constrained us to only sailing one race.  Coming 3rd in that race put me third overall, surprise surprise, and I went into day 2 with the red dot.  The second day was a high scoring day for me unfortunately, with me picking up a large discard with another large result to count.  I was happy to finish the last race in 4th to finish the day on a high.  Day 3 saw no racing due to high winds.  The breeze carried through from Wednesday into Thursday but only a shade lighter to allow racing to go ahead.  I found the conditions difficult which led to me having an inconsistent day with a 10th, 2nd and 6th.  Unfortunately I carried on my inconsistency into the final day picking up my second discard along with a 12th and a 3rd.

I was disappointed to finish 8th overall as I know myself I can sail a lot better given my results in the qualifiers.  It has been a massive learning curve for me as the experience in these pressured events will help me cope with them in the future.  However it isn’t all bad…

Finishing 8th has landed me a spot in the British Youth Sailing Team to compete at the Youth European Championships in Tallin, Estonia at the beginning of August! Not bad at all, very very happy and I can’t wait!

It’s now time to knuckle down for my exams.  It is an important year for me in school with university conditions to meet so I have chosen to put the sailing aside from the end of the Youth Nationals up until my last exam.  After my exams in June I will be travelling to Kiel in Germany for 2 international regattas, so I have that to look forward to!

Lewis

Full results here:

Be sure to select the “Radial Boys” tab;

http://events.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_viewer-v2.asp?id=40191&eventid=204289&classtype=420&templ=&panels=

Congratulations to fellow training partner Jamie for winning, well done mate!

UK WORLD + EUROPEAN SPRING QUALIFIERS

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:

http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=84&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/radyouthlad.2016nh.html

Plymouth Qualifier:

http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=83&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/plymstd.2016nh.html