Page 18 - Salcombe Masthead 2020

16 Fleet Reports
COMPETING FROM AFAR
Towards the end of last year myself and Will competed in a two event qualifier series for the RS Feva National squads and as a result we were lucky enough to be offered a place is the Feva Class National squad for the coming winter. This meant that we could receive coaching at a high level with 10 other boats and sailors ranging in age from 12 (us) to 16.
finishing 2nd At the end of the day we
were 4th overall (1st junior) with a 2nd,
7th and 3rd. Unfortunately on the second day a low pressure system came into play, this brought in higher winds and some big waves. This really did not favour our light weight but we managed to get a couple of mid teen results and a second place at the end of the day when the wind dropped off. We qualified in 8th place (1st junior) within
a fleet of 94 boats towards the top of the gold fleet going into the final series. During the next two days the wind and waves stayed and we hiked hard, mostly achieving mid teen results within the 47 boat gold fleet keeping ourselves ahead of all the other under fourteen sailors making us the RS Feva Junior National Champions!
Over the course of the winter we went to a range of different venues to practice and learn techniques in a variety of different conditions and environments. We got to know many other sailors and also got to know our two coaches: Rick and Alice (a member of the British sailing team).
The 2019 season started off with the spring champs at Draycote making a noticeable improvement on last year’s result, we came away with many areas that we could improve on as this wasn’t quite the result that we were looking for ahead of the National Championships at Abersoch.
The drive from Devon to North Wales took 8 hours and when we finally arrived we were able to unpack the boat, grab a spot on the beach and retire to our B&B to test the hot tub and prepare for a long
THE 2019 SEASON STARTED OFF WITH
THE SPRING CHAMPS AT DRAYCOTE MAKING A NOTICEABLE IMPROVEMENT ON LAST YEAR’S RESULT...
day of qualification ahead of us. During the two days of qualification the fleet was split into four flights and each day we raced against each flight. The first days conditions favoured our light weight, good boat speed and higher upwind angles. In race one we got a reasonable start and decided to go right on the beat, we tacked onto a good lay line and came into the windward mark leading the fleet (an amazing feeling) we dropped just one place during the race