Nationals write up

RS800 Nationals at Pwllhei
August 2005

The 4 day nationals turning into a three day nationals at Pwllheli this year, as the weather was particularly cruel. This led to big discussions throughout the week on the format for next years nationals, particularly as the social side of the 800 fleet is beginning to take off. The karting night provided a lively competition between helms and crews and boyfriend and girlfriend, and after 4 races on Monday we thought the live band would struggle to get everyone up dancing but the 800 fleet did us proud helped by Sarah Marriot, Justin Deal, Ian Martin and Claire Booth who dragged the entire fleet onto the dancefloor.

As for the sailing:
We saw good conditions on day 1 and two really competitive races were fought out.

Day 2 provided us with big, short waves � which sent most of the fleet into major pitch pole mode. The wind was manageable, but with the wave state only Chris Haworth and Stuart Aston risked flying the kite after the first run. After one race the race officer had seen enough damage for one day and sent everyone home.

Day 3 turned out to be the final day, as the wind didn�t see fit to return to Pwllheli for Day 4. But Day 3 provided plenty of excitement as the race officer cramed in 4 races in light and flukey conditions � more recognisable on the smaller lakes than the sea.

Steve Irish and Martin Gotrel revealed their true expertise as they consistently arrived at the windward mark in the number one spot, whilst the rest of the fleet struggled to handle the moments of glory followed by watching the fleet overtake as the shift went the other way!!

Day 4 dawned with a beautiful blue sky but not a breath of wind. Those of us who hadn�t even bothered to change into damp, smelly kit, and who started packing up, felt very smug when racing was abandoned at 12.30pm.

Steve Irish was probably pleased, as he notched up another national championship win, with Haworth/Aston in second, and Deal/Marriot in third. A very disappointing decision for the Olives, though, who desperately wanted another discard to allow them to make up for the DSQ which caused them to have to count a 12th. Although equal on points with Justin Deal, and with Philip King & Christian King who came fourth, on countback the Olives came off worst and settled for a fifth which doesn�t really reflect how good and consistent they are.

For the full nationals write ups � see the results section of the website