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
