Saturday morning looked a little dubious as to whether we'd get any racing in as the sun reflected off the still waters.

At registration we were hit with a four-page booklet containing ISAF's new ruling on Rule 42. This was quite a lot to digest before racing as the nerves were already high, it being the first time we'd all raced against each other for six months. It was time to see how winter training had paid off.

This event also had a lot riding on it for the top two non-lottery funded sailors on the National Ranking Table as this regatta qualified for the RYA/ Holt Grant for Hyeres Regatta in April. The top four sailors on the table after the NR Event at Hayling Island on May 10th & 11th will qualify for the European Championships at Palma in July. The top six qualify for the World Championships. So everyone was keen to get in a good result.

The wind kicked in around mid-day and racing was only one hour behind schedule so the Race Officers managed to get three races in.

The first beat was tricky. The pressure was clearly filling in from the top right hand side of the course. Laura Baldwin was over the line early and re-crossed then headed right. Kirsty Bonar got a great start and established an early lead however, the keen jury yellow flagged her for infringing Rule 42. After a 720 degree penalty she headed right and lead the fleet around the first mark followed closely by Laura who on the last run just managed to get in front of Kirsty to take 1st place.

Race 2 was won by Andrea Brewster, followed by Chris Gill & Ian Stow in 3rd. James Eynon had sailed well and was in 2nd place but sailed the wrong side of mark 4 on the finishing leg which DSQ'd him from the race.

Race 3 was won by James followed by Nicky Muller and Chris in 3rd. Laura was yellow flagged, which she felt was unjustified. It took her from 3rd to 11th! After racing, John Deer from the ISAF came and gave a talk about the new ruling. This made the limitations and perimeters clearer. It seems that there are still a lot of definitions that need their perimeters deciding. What was clear was that you really have to stay still in your boat especially in flat water.

The jury were themselves learning the boundaries of these new rules so many sailors found it difficult to understand what they had done wrong. Perhaps it would have been better if they made notes and spoken to sailors in between races letting them know what had caught their attention. If the act was repeated, then a penalty would be fair enough. It was supposed to be good practice for Hyeres Regatta but what if a sailor could no longer compete because they lost the funding as a result of a penalty?

At the end of day 1 Chris lead by 3 points from Andrea.

Sunday was a struggle with the clocks going forward and stealing an hour of our sleep. The sun was shining and the breeze arrived earlier. Race one was won by Andrea followed closely by Laura and James in 3rd.

Race two was lead by Laura until the wind disappeared on the last beat letting 8 boats past. She caught up to 4th. Nicky Muller got the best advantage from the wind change followed by Chris Gill and Andrea.

The last race was led by Nicky but Laura got ahead and finished with a large lead followed by Nicky in 2nd and Kirsty in 3rd.

This made Laura the overall winner with 12 points, which was nice for her mum who was watching her for the first time since she sailed Europes. It was especially nice with it being Mothers Day. Andrea Brewster put in a great performance and finished 2nd overall with 15 points followed by Nicky and Chris on 16 points each.

Andrea is the 1st place winner of the RYA/ Holt Grant for Hyeres Regatta as she retains her 2nd place on the National Ranking Table. Laura wins the 2nd place grant as she moves up on the table from 5th to 3rd.

Laura Baldwin

Overall Results: