Stokes Bay: the final round

I have to admit, at one point, the forecast didn’t exactly fill me with excitement for the last event of the UKWA National Championship Series at Stokes Bay, Gosport. However, after about 1.5 hours of postponement, racing got underway in about 6 knots of wind.

Tom Naylor

Due to the constrictions of the shipping channel, racing took place on a windward/leeward course set close to the shore, with wind shifts and tide playing a very important part in tactical decisions. By the time we started racing, the tide was fairly slack, but probably still running in the deep water, so the winning tactic was to head right and make use of less tide, and possibly some kind of wind bend by the shore. Tom Naylor had really impressive light wind speed, and arrived first to the windward mark. I managed to pass him, but had to really work to keep him behind me in the first race. In race two, it was a similar story, but this time it was Rob Kent who had a good race, finishing just behind myself. Mark Kay was particularly impressive upwind all weekend, and beat Tom to take 3^rd. With a late start to the racing, we were treated to a third exhausting light wind race. Again, I won, with Rob in second, but this time Tom just managed to keep Mark from the top three.

Annette Kent (photo by Paul Wyeth)

After a well-earned break, we headed out for the final race of the day. The wind was now just strong enough to plane downwind, and with a bit of extra power in his sail, Mark Kay found his familiar superspeed self. It was a very close race between us on the first lap, but a good second beat gave me a large enough lead to pump a little less on the last downwind. Tom sailed a solid race, but was unfortunately one of four competitors to be pushed over the line early by the strengthening tide.

Annette Kent had a solid performance, finishing ahead of Harriet Ellis in every race, which put her in a good position going into the final day to take the national title.

In the youths, it was Alice Butts who sailed the best in the light, tidal conditions. However it was very close, with only a couple of points separating the 4 youths at the end of the day.

Rob Kent (photo by Andy Stallman)

On Sunday, the SE’ly wind was there early on, but took it’s time to build, and the two morning races took place in similarly light wind to Saturday, with a fast tide pushing against it. The best tactic upwind was to head out to deep water and catch the tide and stronger wind. I managed to get away to a strong lead and win both races, although eventually retired from the first race following an incident on the start line, and a lack of enthusiasm for protest hearings. Behind me, it was very close racing between Tom, Mark, and Rob. Mark and Tom managed to get great upwind board-speed in the short chop, whilst Rob’s strength was downwind.

The wind built to a nice 12-14 knots in the afternoon, and the tide started to switch direction. Myself, Tom, and Mark started to have a little bit of a speed advantage over Rob in the stronger conditions. I didn’t have an amazing start in the first race, but a strong downwind saw me take the lead, only to run out of outhaul rope at the leeward mark, forcing me to tack to pull on outhaul on the other side of the boom. This sent me into slack/wind with tide water, whilst Mark and Tom headed into the channel and established an insurmountable lead on me, with Mark winning the race. In the final race, I took the start a little too relaxed and was called over within the final minute. I had to go around the end, but couldn’t find a gap, and in trying to manoeuvre myself into a position to start on time, fell in and gave everyone a 1 minute head start as I had some fun uphauling my sail! Mark and Tom sailed off to take first and second, whilst I played catch up. I managed to pull back to about 5^th or 6^th at the windward mark, then pumped like crazy to arrive at the leeward mark in 3^rd, a position I managed to keep to the finish.

Louis Morris (photo by Robert Hajduk)

Pretty frustrated with my silly mistakes, as my speed was certainly good enough to win both races. In the end, I could still win the event, and unfortunately my mistakes impacted Rob more than me: with two 2^nd places, Tom was able to displace Rob from the event podium, and take 3^rd behind Mark in 2^nd.

Lewis Barnes was going quicker in the slightly stronger breeze, and took a 4^th and 5^th. Similarly, Jenna Gibson started chipping away at the points; with 3 top ten finishes on Sunday, she managed to snatch the youth prize from Alice Butts, who did just enough to keep Thomas Cave, who prefers stronger winds, behind her in the final result. However, with the most consistent performance throughout the year, it was Thomas who was first youth in the overall series, congratulations to him in his first year on raceboard.

Alice Butts

Sunday was the day for Harriet to get some points back from Annette, but unfortunately  for her, it wasn’t quite enough, handing Annette both the event, and overall series win for the womens prize.

In two weeks, the final inland event takes place at Pitsford Reservoir near Northampton. After that, we look forward to more great racing next year. However, there are still the LWA icebreaker events to go to if anyone wants some more racing between now and next spring.

Event results summary:

1^st, Louis Morris

2^nd, 1^st master, 1^st heavyweight, Mark Kay

3^rd, 1^st veteran, Tom Naylor

1^st supervet, John Pete (6^th overall)

1^st lady, Annette Kent (7^th overall)

1^st youth, Jenna Gibson (10^th overall)

Complete results: http://www.windsurfingresults.co.uk/StokesBay2015.html

Series results summary:

1^st, Louis Morris

2^nd, 1^st master, 1^st heavyweight, Mark Kay

3^rd, Robert Kent

1^st Veteran, Tom Naylor (4^th overall)

1^st supervet, John Pete (6^th overall)

1^st Lady, Annette Kent (7^th overall)

1^st Youth, Thomas Cave (9^th overall)

Complete results: http://www.windsurfingresults.co.uk/UKWACup2015.html

National Championships Round 5 - Pwllheli

It would be hard to beat the fantastic conditions we had at Weymouth, but if anywhere can than Pwllheli can. It is possibly my favourite place to race, with great open sea racing conditions, or tactical shifty flat conditions depending on wind direction, with camping virtually on the beach and Snowdonia as a backdrop to the race course.

Mark Kay and Lewis Barnes had been training for several days prior to the event, although by the sound of it more short boarding got done than race training, and those that arrived early on Friday were treated to some great windy conditions. As I found, pitching my tent at 11:30pm.

Mark Kay (photo by Andy Stallman)

The wind and waves had moderated a bit in time for racing on saturday morning, but it was still a bit on the breezy side, with 16-18 knots cross-onshore from the SW.

The raceboard fleet pushed the start a tad (apparently it was my fault), and we started the weekend with a general recall. A collision with a lobster pot buoy soon after the re-start let half the fleet past me, so it was Mark Kay, Tom Naylor, and Tom Dryden who arrived first to the windward mark. All four of them had really good speed upwind on saturday. I tacked off after my collision and found that either I was very very fast, or that the right side of the course paid a lot, because I was 4th to the windward mark. Mast track issues put Tom Dryden out of the race downwind, I managed to pass Tom Naylor with superior angle, and closed the gap on Mark. On the second beat Mark and I headed to opposite sides of the course, and I had taken the lead by the final mark, and won the race.

Louis Morris (photo by Karen Battye)

In the second race, it was Mark and Tom who battled it out at the front the whole way round. I couldn't overtake with speed alone, and tacked too early upwind several times due to a strengthening tide. Mark won, Tom 2nd, myself 3rd. Lewis Barnes had a better race, but opened the door on the last reach for Rob Kent to take 4th place.

Rob Kent (photo by Andy Stallman)

The wind dropped to about 14-16 knots in the afternoon, with a slightly flatter sea-state. The speed difference between myself and Mark was virtually nothing, and I had him right on my tail the whole way round. Lewis and Rob didn't have their best race, but that should take nothing away from Andy Gibson, who was flying all day and took 4th, ahead of Tom Dryden who didn't break anything and took a well deserved 5th.

Rob bounced back in the final race of the day, but still couldn't displace Tom N from his now customary 3rd place. Meanwhile, it was closer than ever, too close in fact, between myself and Mark. Mark arrived first to the windward mark, but I had a great downwind leg and arrived at the leeward gate first. We both opted to gybe and head left, and Mark took the inside and hit my mast with the end of his boom as I came out tighter than he expected. All good, we were both still upright, and I now had him behind me. I tacked on what I thought was the layline whilst he carried on for a little longer. In clean air, Mark is very fast upwind, and I could hear him getting closer, I tried to point as high as possible to squeeze into his lee-bow and control him again. I thought he'd got me, but as he overtook, his boom clipped my shoulder and sent him over the front. Luckily out of the way of me so no further collision took place. Mark recovered quickly enough to keep Tom at bay and take an unfortunate 2nd.

Annette Kent (photo by Karen Battye)

Thomas Cave was the fastest youth in the breezy conditions, and had some close racing with experienced racers Annette Kent and Harriet Ellis. Harriet was unlucky, missing two races after breaking her mast, battens, and sail in the waves.

Most of sunday was spent waiting for wind. We were teased with 4 knots SW, but the race committee decided to continue waiting, and eventually it swung NW (offshore) and reached 6-8 knots. By the time we started, we had a slightly gusty and shifty 8-10 knots. The fleet was quite split after the start, with neither side looking  better than the other. I opted for the middle, with two tacks timed with shifts. I had really good speed and angle, a great start, and good laylines, so arrived upwind first. Rob and Mark weren't far behind, but I planed almost all the way downwind on both laps, so pulled away quite a lot and won by a comfortable margin. The next race was a similar story, although the wind was a little lighter so it was entirely non-planing. In this wind, Mark and Rob were very well matched upwind, but Rob had the slight edge downwind, and managed to take 2nd in both races, with Mark 3rd and Tom Naylor 4th. These conditions often suit Lewis, and he was very quick upwind, but didn't managed to piece together the tactics, and settled for 5th and 9th.

Lewis Barnes (photo by Karen Battye)

Thomas Cave likes it windy, couldn't keep up with fellow youths Alice Butts and Emily Kent. Alice sailed excellently, and even finished ahead of Annette in the final race. However, with only two light wind races, Thomas had done enough to take the youth prize by just two points. Annette Kent was first lady, with good light wind races, Harriet also sailed well, but with only one discard, couldn't recover from her kit-breaking wave.

Full results

Results summary:
1st Louis Morris
2nd Mark Kay, 1st heavy, 1st master
3rd Tom Naylor, 1st veteran
1st Lady Annette Kent 8th overall
1st supervet John Pete 9th overall
1st youth Thomas Cave 11th overall

With only one event remaining to decided the UKWA national champion, things are really close. With two discards now available, Louis Morris and Mark Kay both hold 4 points each, and whoever beats the other at the last event will win the series, providing they finish within one place of Rob Kent who can still win in theory. Annette Kent and Harriet Ellis are also on tied points, so it will go right down the the last event.

Series results

My Cornish Summer

This summer, like last summer, I'm working as a watersports instructor at Polkerris Beach on the south coast of Cornwall. It's been pretty good so far working on a beach. The weather's not been amazing, but it's been busy enough, I don't know how many people I've taught to sail and windsurf, but it's been quite a few.

Last summer was very sunny, but pretty windless. This summer we've had a few sunny days, but most importantly, there have been a few days of great wavesailing to make up for not doing a season somewhere sunnier and more consistently windy. Perfect for testing my new Starboard Kode 77 aka the wave riding rocket ship!

I had a really fun session at Bigbury, cross on, 4.7, waves up to head high. Crashed a few backloops, but getting some forwards and tweaking my table tops.

This feels good! Photo by Simon Burgess.

Tweaking it out. Photo by Simon Burgess.

This was followed by a windier day. I opted for Daymer, it wasn't as wavy as Bigbury, but really fun for jumping, no table tops on port tack, but some nice floaty jumps, one handed jumps, and forward loops. I worked on my backloops as well and was finally rewarded by landing my first port tack backloop woop woop. I also managed to land my first stalled forward loops! The nice surprise was finding the Kent family at the beach, better known for their raceboard exploits, I had a lot of fun jumping with Rob, made a change to racing him on a long board! This was followed by a relaxing float and ride session at Marazion.

1 handed jump. Photo by Annette Kent.

Rocket Rob. Photo by Annette Kent.

A week or so later, and there was a big swell and windy SW forecast + sun. I met up with friend and Tushingham team mate Sam Sills, who is a professional RSX athlete. We headed to The Bluff (Hayle) and scored some big wave rides. It was very tricky, with big hollow waves breaking over a shallow sand bar and a very gusty wind. I was on my 4.7 Rock and 77 Kode, and Sam was on 4.5 Bolt and 86 Kode freestyle wave. It was a super fun session, amazing to get waves like this in the summer as well! Unfortunately I had to spend the evening in A&E getting my chin stitched up after being eaten by a big wave and eating my mast.

Sick session!

I kept windsurfing for a while, my jaw hurt a bit though!

Looks like we might get some more wind and waves during the next week, fingers crossed!

I've also been getting plenty of race training in, both at Siblyback Lake, and after work at Polkerris. Feels a bit strange to start training after the World Champs instead of before, but that is the way it is. I'm getting faster and working on my technique a lot. Feeling really motivated for the next UKWA event next weekend in north Wales. Polkerris has been a great training venue, and I feel well prepared for some choppy wavy conditions in Pwllheli.

If you've not already seen my Siblyback training video from last month then you should check it out!

Here are a few gopro photos. Stay tuned for some race results next weekend.

Flying downwind.

Pumping pumping pumping....

Full power upwind.

Marginal cruising.

Practising with the uphaul.

Raceboard fleet at Weymouth

Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is definitely one of the best venues for course racing in the country, despite extortionate harbour fees. Whilst the RSX and Techno fleets were a little depleted due to clashing or upcoming international championships, the raceboard fleet was very strong. 16 Raceboards may not sound that impressive, but this is pretty good going for a coastal event, which normally put off many of the inland sailors who don't like bumpy water. The best news was that half the fleet were "young" i.e. 25 or less, which is extremely promising for the future of the british raceboard fleet. Lets hope that the fleet continues to grow in this way.

Look! Some young, fresh faced raceboarders! Photo by Rod Davis

The wind looked pretty light on Saturday morning, and racing got underway in about 8 knots. However, it was still pretty patchy, and trying to stay in the gusts was really important. The first race was completely non-planing, and it was pretty hard work! I just managed to stay ahead of Mark Kay, with Rob Kent in 3rd. Robin McAllister, now in his second year on Raceboard, sailed excellently to take 5th. 20 year-old Andrew Robinson was really fast upwind, but suffered downwind (pumping really is hard work if you've not windsurfed for a year!), although he still managed to take 7th. Thankfully, the wind picked up a bit for the next race, and I could stay planing around the whole course and win by a comfortable margin. This time, it was really close between Mark and Rob, but Mark just stayed ahead to take 2nd place.

Close racing between Mark Kay and Louis Morris. Photo by Andy Stallman.

The wind didn't really build any further, but it did stabilise in the afternoon, and staying in the gusts and on the right side of the shifts was less challenging than previously. Once again, I had a really good speed and angle upwind, and could plane all the way downwind to win by a long way. This time, Rob flew down the last run to snatch 2nd place from Mark just meters from the finish line. Annette Kent and Harriet Ellis both sailed an impressive race, women are limited to an 8.5 sail, yet they finished 4th and 5th respectively, leaving no less than ten 9.5's in their wake. The final race of the day saw a very close first beat, with Mark, Rob, and Lewis Barnes leading the way downwind. I worked hard downwind to get back to the front, but had the worst mark rounding of my life (I missed it all together and had to go back round,oops!), and trailed Rob and Mark  for the rest of the race.

Annette Kent. Photo by Karen Battye

Only two points separated Alice Butts, Thomas Cave, and Emily Kent in the youth division after 4 races, but it was Emily who clung on to the lead overnight.

Alice Butts flying to the finish. Photo by Karen Battye

Sunday also looked light initially, but the wind quickly built to a steady 12 knot SW'ly. Looking back at the results it looks pretty boring! I won, Mark got 2nd, Lewis 3rd, Rob 4th in all 3 races on Sunday morning! Actually, it was really close. Mark was actually over the line in the first race and had to re-start, but incredibly managed to sail so fast that he was soon right on my tail. My starts were good in both races, and I was able to point a couple of degrees higher than Mark  to put him into my dirty air and control him behind me. Even so, just a few board lengths separated us from start to finish.We were a long way ahead of the rest of the fleet, but a similar battle was going on between Rob Kent and Lewis Barnes for 3rd and 4th. Rob was better downwind, whilst Lewis's strength is upwind.

Lewis in fine form, especially upwind. Photo by Karen Battye

In the afternoon, the wind picked up a notch, with gusts of up to 20 knots.I think we were all a little relieved that Tom Naylor wasn't in attendance, as these really were his conditions! The top 4 was occupied by the same people as before, but with that extra breeze, Mark was unstoppable upwind. I didn't let him disappear off too far, once he was ahead, I simply couldn't catch him. However, with 6 race wins, I had done enough to win the event.

Mark takes a bullet! Photo by Karen Battye

 Rob was glad of his 1st and 2nd places on Saturday afternoon, and finishing 4th behind Lewis in every race in Sunday was enough to give him 3rd overall in the final results.

Lewis and Louis head upwind in perfect conditions. Photo by Karen Battye

 John Pete must have had some kind of turbo on the back of his board, because he was on fire this weekend finishing 5th overall. Robin McAllister was very impressive in the stronger wind and took 5th place in three of the races, and 6th overall in the event.

Robin McAllister. Photo by Karen Battye

It is almost always a very close race between Harriet Ellis and Annette Kent, and this time it was Harriet who was first lady, finishing one or two places ahead in most of the races.

Harriet Ellis wins the ladies. Photo by Karen Battye

Alice Butts looked comfortable in the stronger wind, but it was Thomas Cave who really excelled and finished first youth by an impressive 10 point margin.

First youth: Thomas Cave. Photo by Karen Battye

Full results: http://www.windsurfingresults.co.uk/Weymouth2015.html

Results summary:
1st Louis Morris, 1st Lightweight
2nd Mark Kay, 1st Master, 1st Heavyweight
3rd Robert Kent
1st Super Veteran, John Pete (5th overall)
1st Lady, Harriet Ellis (7th overall)
1st Veteran, Chris Gibson (9th overall)
1st Youth, Thomas Cave (11th overall)

See you all at the next event in Pwllheli!

Photo by Andy Stallman

Datchet: UKWA Regional Inland Series

The UKWA Regional Inland Series is a great series of events, serving as both: high quality, high level racing for experienced competitors, often offering a different challenge to the sea events (flat water, fluky winds), and also the perfect introduction to national level course racing.

Datchet was an excellent example of this, and saw a sizable junior fleet, making the step up from  Team 15 with some close racing and great coaching from Chloe Bennett. There was also a decent techno fleet, and it was a great opportunity for a couple of the older techno sailors to get some experience on the RSX.

The Raceboard fleet had a good entry of 22 competitors, including some local LWA windsurfers, and 4 youths, including Thomas Cave and Alice Butts, both of whom are new to Raceboard this year.

Saturday good as the terrible forecast! Grey, a bit drizzly, and very light wind. It did pick up to up to 10 knots in the late afternoon, but died away to nothing once everyone was on the start line! Eventually, once race was completed in 5-8 knots in the afternoon. With the rather low water level, the wind was very gusty and shifty, and it was hard to not get stuck in a patch of no wind, or get on the wrong side of the shift. I had a good start, but didn't get the beat spot on. I got it good enough though, and with a bit of pumping, rounded first, just ahead of Andy Gibson, who was absolutely flying upwind at an outrageous angle. Mark Kay fought back downwind, and was in a great position for the second beat. Rob Kent can never be discounted, especially in these winds, and took second place behind myself, with Mark working hard for a well earnt 3rd.

Breezy Sunday

After an evening of musical entertainment and food in the clubhouse, Sunday's forecast was eagerly anticipated. We woke to a building westerly breeze, and by the time we launched, it was a pretty solid 15-20 knots. However, the wind shifted a little to the right, and having to share the lake with the club racers, the course ended up being set in an incredibly gusty shifty corner, which made the days 5 short races pretty hard work.

I like blasting between the races!

There was an interesting mix of tactics on the short upwind leg, with some opting to go right and get the shift off the shore, and others heading left into the (possibly) more consistent breeze in the middle of the lake. I tended to head left off the port biased line, and it worked, combined with hunting the gusts downwind, I won the first two races by a big margin. Tim Colles had an awesome one in race 3, but consistency was what mattered, and it was Mark Kay and Lewis Barnes who managed to make their awesome speed work in the tricky conditions best. In race 4, Mark went the same way as me upwind and it was a pretty close battle most of the way round, I just managed to overtake him downwind, then followed a gust round the last downwind leg to just take the win. With two races scheduled for the afternoon, Mark was in 2nd behind myself, but with Rob Kent and Lewis Barnes not far behind. Race 5 didn't go so well for Mark, finishing 4th, but Lewis Barnes sailed brilliantly to close the gap on Rob. The battle for the podium went down to the last race, where the wind swung round so much, that almost the whole fleet started on port. I went quite early but remarkably wasn't over, but hesitated a little, then felt totally out of control as a gust came from nowhere. By the time I'd adjusted my sail, Mark, Lewis, and Andy sailed right over the top of the rest of the fleet and stayed way out in front for the rest of the race, allowing Lewis to snatch 3rd place away from Rob. I pulled myself back into fourth downwind, but there was no way I'd catch the top 3!

Mark Kay chasing Paul Leone to the finish

Annette Kent got a series of good top 10 results to finish first lady and 9th overall, quite a few points ahead of Jenna Gibson in 10th. Jenna took the first youth prize convincingly, but it was a pretty close match between Thomas, Alice, and Emily Kent. They were trading places the whole weekend, but in the end Thomas took 2nd, with Alice just edging into 3rd ahead of Emily.

The next inland event isn't until September for the RYA/UKWA Inland Nationals and Youth and Masters Championship, but in the meantime, there is plenty of coastal action lined up at Herne Bay, Weymouth, and Pwllheli.

Results:
1st Louis Morris
2nd Mark Kay, 1st Master, 1st Heavyweight
3rd Lewis Barnes

1st Veteran, Bob Ingram, 7th overall
1st Super Veteran, John Pete, 8th overall
1st Lady, Annette Kent, 9th overall
1st Youth Jenna Gibson, 10th overall

Raceboard winners!

Top 3 youths

4th place at the 2015 Ergo Hestia Raceboard World Championships

I was really looking forward to the Raceboard worlds this year. Last year I was not able to compete in either the Worlds or Europeans due to work/university commitments so instead I committed to doing the full UK tour for the first time. Fortunately, the worlds this year didn’t clash with any other commitments. Unfortunately, it started 4 days after my final exam, which came at the end of a really busy final year at university, particularly late March-late June was pretty full with writing my masters thesis and studying for my final exams. The result was driving off to Poland with virtually no training! Luckily I had managed to find time to enter the Round Hayling Island Race, and the first UKWA event of the season, which was good preparation. I just had to stay calm, not put too much pressure on myself, and enjoy the event in the knowledge that my technique and kit was well ready after 2 seasons of getting faster and more tuned up. To be honest, I would have been disappointed with anything outside the top 10, and set the same ultimate goal as I did for the 2013 worlds: a top 5 finish.

On the startline at my last worlds in 2013 (photo by Martin Hales)

I walked out of my final exam, and after a brief celebration for completing my degree, got straight on with packing. I was to drive to Sopot, Poland with Lewis Barnes and Chris Willetts the next morning. I received a text from Chris saying that he’d injured his leg and couldn’t really walk on it, uh oh! That meant I’d have to drive all of the 1200 miles (1900 km) myself, as Lewis doesn’t have a driving license. I just had to get on with it I guess.

Lewis in training

We weren’t in a rush, camping near Gent and Berlin on the way, and with a huge stack of CD’s and Lewis’s ability to talk for a few hours at a time, the miles ticked away and we finally arrived at my friend Jan’s house in Gdansk on Sunday evening. It was really nice to be able to stay at his house by the forest at the edge of the city, and 20 minutes from the sailing club: close enough to be easy to get to every morning, but nice to escape the sailing club every day and relax away from the racing area.

Monday was registration day, and me and Lewis got out for a bit of training. It was and onshore breeze, 6-9 knots and fairly choppy, really useful training, as we did quite a lot of racing in these kind of conditions, and I hadn’t sailed my raceboard for a while, especially in light wind conditions.

Starboard Phantoms registered and ready to go.

There was a healthy entry, with 70 men (unfortunately a little lower than the 103 competitors in 2014), and 11 women. 6 from Argentina, 2 Australians, 11 Czechs, 1 from Denmark, 7 from Finland, 3 from France, 2 from the UK, 17 Germans, 5 Latvians, 20 from Poland, 1 from Portugal, 1 Swiss, 4 Slovakians. As is usual for an international event, most competitors registered a light wind 9.5 and a strong wind 9.5, I registered, as usual, my Tushingham XR Race 9.5, and Lightning 8.5. I use the XR Race in all wind conditions, and with the forecast looking pretty terrible, I didn’t see myself needing the 8.5!

Lewis and Louis rigged and ready (photo by Lewis Barnes)

The first day of racing looked like it would have the best wind of the week, with a 10 knot forecast (yes the rest of the week really did look that bad!). By the end of the day the wind had built nicely, and we got 3 races in, two of them planing. I started my event with a conservative start in the middle of the line, and finished 11^th, quickly realising that playing it too safe wouldn’t be enough if I was going to challenge for the top. With everyone going so fast, and a relatively clean and consistent wind strength and direction, getting a good start was really vital to get in front and stay in front. I put this right in the second race, and pushed for the pin end. I had decent speed and finished a solid 4^th. Nothing really went wrong in the last race, but I just felt tired and unable to get the speed that I wanted upwind, but finished 8^th.

Max Wojcik and Piotr Nowacki, showed that they were the ones to beat in the event, getting 3 firsts and 3 seconds respectively. Fabian Grundmann of Germany was also really fast in the planing conditions, as was Juha Blinnikka of Finland.

I ended the first day in 9^th, but the top 10 were really tightly packed with just a few points separating us, so it was a good start to the regatta, I just had to keep getting consistent top 10 and top 5 results.

Reaching to the finish (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)

The wind was more or less the same direction for the second day, but lighter, mainly non-planing conditions of 6-10 knots. I initially struggled to get a good angle upwind, but changed my setup a little, and then felt really competitive both upwind, and downwind, where keeping the board surfing down the swell/chop was really important. After a bad first beat, I was fighting my way back up the fleet in race 4, but finished a great 5^th place. In race 5, it was the opposite, I started the second beat in a good position, but played it too safe up the middle of the course, and lost some places because of that. Without much in the way of gusts and shifts, you really had to have good speed and commit to one side in clean air without loosing distance by tacking too much. I got a perfect start, great speed, and good tactics in race 6, and finished an awesome 2^nd, I was really happy with that.

Max stayed dominant at the front, and Piotr was still comfortable in 2^nd, but the rest of the top 10 had a little shuffle as Fabian and Juha, who were flying on day 1, struggled a little in the light wind. Meanwhile, Daniel Blinnikka, myself, and Jan Maszkiewicz had a solid day, ranked 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th respectively at the end of the day, with just two points separating the three of us!

Tight mark rounding (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)

Day 3 looked a little different, with flat water and a cross-offshore westerly breeze, which lead to two races in almost unbelievably gusty (5-14 knots in the same race!) and shifty conditions. This made it really tough: tactically because you had to manage risk and try and stay on the right side of the shifts and in stay in the gusts as much as possible, and physically because you had to pump like crazy downwind in the lulls, and hang on to a lot of power upwind in the gusts. I was glad that my sail is so versatile and tunable, and I was adjusting my downhaul and outhaul continuously during the race (even sailing upwind with the outhaul rope in my hand).

It was hard to be consistent, but Daniel and Fabian were super solid in these conditions with two 6ths, and a 2^nd and 4^th respectively. Piotr wasn’t so in tune and finished outside the top 10 in both races. I was consistent enough, felt quite fast but found it really hard to get the gusts and shifts right. There were times when I’d look in an awesome position, but the round the windward mark around 10^th, then jump up to the top 5 again, only to go down the last downwind stuck in no wind whilst a group of windsurfers were flying down the course in a gust by the shore.

Lewis was loving the conditions, I think it reminded him of lake sailing in the midlands! He was challenging for the top 10, and even the top 5 at times, and just lacked a little downwind speed compared to the top guys, but got awesome 13^th and 9^th, which was a great help after not finding his form in the choppier opening days.

We were sent in for lunch, and a nice 12 knot sea breeze appeared from the east. The race officer decided to run a long distance race. However, by the time we got to the start line and had a general recall, the wind was more like 9 knots, and by the time we finished it was about 4. I arrived to the windward mark in a good position, just behind Daniel. Max flew downwind, and Jan and Piotr also overtook us both, I arrived to the leeward mark in 4^th, just ahead of Daniel. The last upwind leg back to the start line was very light and tricky, but I managed to round the final mark in 2^nd, with Piotr and Jan breathing down my neck. I couldn’t really find a comfortable or fast way of reaching in these conditions, and lost my place to Piotr and Jan just meters from the finish line! 4^th is still good, but 2^nd would have been better!

I ended the day in 5^th, tied with Daniel, and one point off Jan in 3^rd. It seemed like there was very little between us, so the pressure was on for the final two days.

Shifty conditions made for a super tight reach to the finish. (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)

The forecast for day 4 looked really bad, maybe peaking at about 6 knots if we were lucky! Luckily, we were extra lucky and race 10 got underway in a clean 11-13 knot sea breeze. I didn’t have a great start, struggled to get a good angle and speed upwind, and couldn’t make up for it downwind, so finished 10^th, Daniel had a great race, and finished 2^nd, Jan didn’t finish the race, I think something broke.

The sea breeze started to get very patchy indeed, with some big shifts as well. It was really difficult to see any pattern in where the holes were, but I got good starts and managed to stay in the gusts well and got two 6^th places. Jan and Daniel did pretty badly, which lead to Daniel ending the day in 3^rd just one point ahead of me, and Jan now out of podium contention.

In the mix off the start (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)

The top two places were well out of reach, so I was ready for a battle for 3^rd on the final day between myself and Daniel. However, it wasn’t that simple, as if we did badly, 3^rd place could be snatched away by former world champion Patrick Pollack, who had been chipping away at the points, with a series of consistent top 10 results just held back by a couple of not so good discards, and Portugal’s Pedro Corte Moura who was really flying upwind in all conditions.

We waited for 2 hours for the wind to pick up to 6 knots, then had two races in really light conditions, right on the limit of what was race-able. The fleet pushed the start very hard, and we had a general recall with a black flagged second start. My start was quite good and I was in a good position, with Daniel buried in the fleet. He tacked off to the right hand side of the course, but I didn’t see and continued to the left. Daniel rounded in a good position, and I had a lot of work to do. I worked hard, and had a good second beat, then just managed to overtake Pedro at the finish line, finishing one place behind Daniel.

This meant that to take 3rd place overall, I would have to beat Daniel by at least two places in the final race, and ideally in the top 10. I started near to him and had a great start, then tacked with him, sailed to the layline and rounded with windward mark with several sailors between us. I again covered him up the second beat, but lost some places at the leeward mark. I almost managed to overtake Petr Kucera on the final downwind, but it wasn’t enough, and all I could do was rely on somebody finishing between me and Daniel. He was really pushing hard downwind and reeling in some places. In the end he finished just ahead of Patrick, only one place behind me, handing him 3rd place, one point ahead of myself in 4th.

Ready for the start (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)

I’m happy with how I sailed, I didn’t make too many mistakes, managed to be fairly consistent, and was fighting really close for the podium right until the last seconds of the championship. We managed 14 races, which was pretty impressive given the forecast, and I felt quite fast most of the time in the wind between 4 and 15 knots that we had during the competition. I knew before entering that it could be a tough battle between myself and Daniel; he finished 3^rd in 2012, I finished 3^rd in 2013. It was an enjoyable and testing event, and I feel really motivated and ready for the rest of the national events this summer. I was not planning on heading to the Europeans in Cadiz this September, but now I’m a bit tempted, we’ll see. Anyway, the 2016 worlds are in Brisbane, Australia. I’m not sure I can make it to that, but I’m fully up for the 2016 Europeans in Brest, France, and I’ll train hard and push for the podium.

I should also say that my training and travel buddy Lewis found another gear and posted some more great top 20 results, even in his least favoured light, choppy conditions to finish in 21^st, an awesome result for the 17 year-old in a senior fleet of his first international competition.

Congratulations to Max, Piotr and Daniel for their awesome performance in the championship. Thanks to the race officer Ewa Jodlowska, and all of the on and off water crews who made the event happen. And of course, Robert Hajduk for taking all the incredible photos

Mens top 3: Max Wojcik, Piotr Nowacki, Daniel Blinnikka. (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)

Louis Morris GBR 730 – 4^th (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)

The competitors (Robert Hajduk, shuttersail.com)