Easy to say when things have gone well, but anyone you didn’t enjoy the 2023 Nationals probably needs to find another sport!
We were in awe of the level of professionalism and organisation Hayling Island SC put in to delivering an absolute master-class of a championship.
Parking the boats, and the launch recovery process was as easy as I can remember at an event, and everything shore-side just made the event flow so well. Special mention has to go to the galley staff; the quality of the food on all 3 nights was exceptional, especially the Anniversary Dinner. We had the honour of sharing a table with Roger and Gina Proctor, and were treated to some interesting insights into the history of the Osprey, along with other Ian Proctor designs. A great evening!
The weather obviously helped, but Mark Darling and his race management team didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the 8 races, and were really crisp with their communication and scheduling. I had a bit of a nervy 5 minutes after one of the black flag starts, but Matt was confident we were safe, and he proved to be right.
The racing on Saturday was pretty challenging, with lightish breezes, significant tidal flow, and some decent shifts and pressure differences. We developed some new terminology for our various modes during the event, with Saturday definitely falling into the ‘finesse’ sailing category. We ended the day with 2 bullets, which set the event off to a cracking start for us.
We categorised the other 2 race days as ‘dynamic’ sailing. A bit more breeze, flat out a lot of the time, with some lighter periods to add to the challenge. The racing on Monday was very tough, and we certainly had to fight for everything, including coming back from 11th at one windward mark to grab a 4th. Chris & Dan and Ben &James grabbed a well deserved race win each, with us taking the middle race. This kept the event very much alive for the final day, but we had a decent points advantage to look after, albeit the 2nd discard could potentially spice things up.
The final day (dynamic with a bit of finesse thrown in) was an absolute epic of a day. Sunshine, moderate breeze, with a somewhat choppy sea. We tended to play middle left up the first beats, but on 2 occasions, those prepared to go hard right made some gains. Willy ‘cornerbanger’ Chrichton called the right hand side twice, and put himself in serious contention for a while. This also brought a moment of glory for a few other boats, with the usual front runners a bit further back than they are used to. We had an absolute battle with Matt Burge and Vyv Townend all day. They were back on the pace after some radical re-tuning, and pushed us all the way.
Matt has been an absolute pleasure to sail with this year. He’s focussed and calm in the boat and has a wicked sense of humour. We are both looking forward to another tough battle in Poole for the 2024 championship.
