UK National Champs - just
In the end it was a very close series for the UK National
Championships. We started the final day with an 8 point lead (since
our 2nd drop was so bad - or good), but Tristan & Alain came
within a whisker of taking away their own title.
The day saw some sunny conditions and a building breeze up to over
25 knots for the final race. The first race saw us lead from a
mediocre start, defending over the short course to put another
point between us and Tristan. The second race saw us have an
absolutely terrible start, yet we clawed back upwind, then pulled
ourselves through the bunch into a 4th - unfortunately Tristan
& Alain were 1st. The lead goes down to 6 points with 2 races
to go.
In the next race we manage an even worse start - rouding the top
mark even further down the pack. Since our drop race was only a
6th, it would be pointless for us to continue unless we did that or
better - so we did. Tristan & Alain again won the race. Now the
gap goes to 2 points with 1 race to go.
This time the start is marginally better - but only just. Blasting
off the pin were Tristan & Alain again, with us following a few
boatlenghts behind. At the top mark Tristan rounds second, we us
rounding in about 7th. We manage to pull past 2 boats on the tight
reach across the top of the trapezoid - in 25 knots mind you. On
the next work up we tack inside two brits and round in 3rd, Tristan
finishes 2nd - and we win by a point!
Sounds close eh?
Well luckily for us, Tris & Alain were DSQ for race 2 - getting
caught by the black flag. The final margin ended up being much
larger.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next week at the
Worlds…
