Eleven Northern Ireland RS Feva Sailors travelled to Dalgety Bay, Scotland, for the RS Feva UK Nationals last weekend, where they mixed it with the best with some fantastic performances.
Strong winds all weekend, meant losing a day on Sunday and a late start again Monday, but despite the odds, all NI Sailors put in big efforts to secure spots in Gold Fleet.
Day 1 of the RS Feva UK Championships went ahead as scheduled with breezy Westerly conditions with the iconic Firth of Forth Rail Bridge as the backdrop behind the windward mark.
94 boats took to the water in two fleets and 4 races were sailed, after which the competitors were split into Gold and Silver Fleets.
Sister duo, Emily and Annabel, made best use of their pre-race strategy, playing the right-hand side of the course to avoid the worst of the current. This gave them a number of 2nd and 3rd places to put them on the podium overnight ahead of their own father and brother, Matt and Peter in 7th.
Sunday saw over 30 knots of wind, so AP over A was displayed, and competitors got the day off to become tourists.
Monday morning showed little change to the conditions, so racing was postponed for much of the day, with the first race of the finals only getting underway after 3 pm. 3 races were put in before heavy rain reminded competitors they were in Scotland and sailors arrived back to the slip not long before 8 o’clock. A few tired and hungry sailors headed for an early night before the final day of racing.
Despite Tuesday’s forecast moderating compared to the rest of the weekend, there were still plenty of big gusts across the course. Tired sailors and battered boats started to show. Some retired early and a few breakages left the NI Coach Boat Spares Box depleted.
The black flag in force for the first time in the event and unfortunately, a number of NI Sailors were caught- Perhaps Hammy’s coaching point of “we need to be more competitive at the start” was taken a little too far! There were BFD’s for Ben, Jess & Sally and the Ridout Sisters. This was a welcome pit stop for some as a broken jib halyard needed attending to, to keep some on the water.
With a black flag hanging over them, the Ridout girls had conservative starts, but their pace and boat handling pulled them back to have top 5 scores. With every race counting, this was an impressive display of consistency that put the girls only 4 points away from their weekend goal of top 5 and first female. With the Worlds next on the agenda, some focus on starts and avoiding the big scores will have them in good form.
NI Topper Team sailor Ben McCaldin swapped the single-handed life to team up with is cousin Laia Priestley. After a tough qualifying day, no doubt due to never having sailed the Feva together in a race before, the pair worked their way up from 37th to 21st overall, claiming the Junior National Championship Title (Under 13).
Following the event, RYA Northern Ireland Performance Manager, Andrew Baker, said: “It was a testament to the team to complete all races in such challenging conditions. Given that not so long ago we could only aspire to having a Feva squad, let alone any results, I am very proud of all our sailors who have forged the way for the development of this class in NI and Ireland.
“I am also encouraged by the number of single-handed sailors getting involved and suggesting they are keen to do double-handed sailing too. Our next step is to build a 29er programme to aid some of the older members to transition over the summer and into the Winter while encouraging the wider NI Sailing community and classes to embrace these young sailors into the sport for life, showing them community sailing can offer.”
Full results
Emily and Annabel Ridout – 2nd Girls Team, 6th Overall
Matt and Peter Ridout – 12th
Ross and Martha Nolan – 17th
Ben McCaldin- Junior National Champion, 21st Overall
Jessica Dadley Young and Sally Nixon – 9th Girls Team 31st Overall
Ellie Nolan and Niamh Coman 11th Girls Team, 35th Overall
To read the full results, click here.
