After a very successful Eastern Championships organised by the neighbouring Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, a small group of National Yacht Club RS Feva sailors got set for the British Nationals. After a light-air yet instructive clinic, the team of five partnerships made it to the UK on May 26th.
The team was greeted in Pwllheli, North Wales, by sunshine and champagne-style sailing conditions... simply glorious!
After a short training session to get their bearings in the bay, they competed in a fleet of 95 boats over four days.
The large fleet was split into two starts and completed a six-race qualifying series.
The first day offered somewhat medium conditions, whilst the second day sometimes muscled up with up to 20 knots.
On day one, the group learnt fast from initial mistakes concluding on race three with two top 10 (courtesy of Felix Dion/Lucas Browne and Grace Keating/Hannah Walsh). The rest of the group also secured their best race at the end.
On day two, the group found the going challenging in the breeze and despite moments of brilliance, mistakes (capsizes, kites gone fishing...) proved costly; gear was also put to the test with Felix and Lucas suffering gear failure. Two partnerships (Jules Start/Amy O'Halloran and Theo Madigan/Cathal O'Regan) managed to secure their place in the gold fleet.
Five races were completed in the finals. The conditions had gone down to a lovely light to medium Easterly. Gold fleet proved tough and big lessons were learnt by both our teams. The best finishers were RstGYC sailors Jules and Amy in 37th.
Although a few mistakes were also made in Silver, the results were encouraging and nearer the front, with Felix and Lucas concluding their event with a race win.
The trip away was a first for some sailors, and they certainly enjoyed the competition and the after-sailing fun. The opportunity to learn from the very competitive British fleet was also a great added value to the trip.
Next is now the RS Fest in Blessington, which will also be the Irish nationals. The NYC team is now looking forward to applying the gained experience against the home fleet on June 24-25.