Selden Mirror Nationwide at Llandudno Sailing Club

Action from the Mirror Welsh Championships at LLandudno © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Action from the Mirror Welsh Championships at LLandudno © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

It is ten years since the Mirrors have held a championship at Llandudno when the Nationals were held in this popular venue in 1997. In total the class has visited Llandudno three times for its Nationals, so it is fitting that Mirrors returned here for the first Welsh Championship in five years and Round 2 of the Selden Nationwide Championship.

Day 1 dawned bright with a light breeze. The race team took the fleet well offshore to give clean winds beyond the Great and Little Orme, the two dis tinctive hills that jut out from Llandudno and form the bay.

The light breeze was quite shifty, but the race team were very proficient at re-positioning the course to maximise the conditions. The shifty wind combined with a small swell and tide changing during the day kept the competitors on their toes.

Race 1 saw European Champion Hector Cisneros sailing with son Ben take the lead on the second lap after choosing the inshore gate and gaining a beneficial lift by coming into the bay. 2005 World Champion Ross Kearney and new crew Katie Jones taking second from Simon Lovesey sailing single handed.

Ross and Katie stepped up a gear in Race 2 to lead from start to finish, with Youth sailors Natalie Roach and Harrison Reece chasing hard in second place, holding off Hector and Ben in third.

For Race 3 the race team set the longest course of the day and with a building tide saw many place changes. Ross and Katie took their second bullet of the day from Hector and Ben. The se two champions were pushed hard by National Squad sailors Tom and James Lovesey, who despite being only 12 and 14 respectively, managed to maintain their concentration over a race lasting nearly 1 and half hours.

Competitors enjoyed a fantastic buffet meal on the Saturday night kindly provided by the ladies of Llandudno Sailing Club which was followed by the Selden Prize draw with many goodies up for grabs. Luke Lazell won the top prize of a new Selden Boom.

Sunday brought wet and win dy weather. The fleet were kept ashore in anticipation of the front passing through, unfortunately this never materialised and all racing was abandoned.

This gave the Welsh Championships and Round 2 of the Selden Nationwide Championship Series to Ross Kearney and Katie Jones, with Hector and Ben Cisneros second, from young Ed Grey and Nick Elsdon who had sailed very consistently throughout the day in third place. Ross and Katie can now put their names to the trophy that in the past has been won by many famous sailors including double Olympic Medalist Ian Walker.

The Selden Nationwide series consists of six class championships including the Inlands. With generous sponsorship from Selden, each event has a prize draw giving everyone a chance to win. See www.ukmirrorsailing.com for details.

Prizewinners:

Overall
1st Ross Kearney and Katie Jones
2nd Hector Cisneros and Ben Cisneros
3rd Edward Grey and Nick Elsdon

Youths
1st Edward Grey and Nick Elsdon
2nd Natali e Roach and Harrison Reece
3rd Chris Rust and Oliver Newman

Juniors
1st Tom Lovesey and James Lovesey
2nd Hugo Sloper and Aiden McCarthy
3rd James Brant and Robert Knee

Single Handers
1st Simon Lovesey
2nd Angus Carlisle

First Zone Squad Boat - Hugo Sloper and Aiden McCarthy
11111 Prize - James Polston &Luke Lazell
Youngest Combined Team - John Peterson and Clare Peterson

Overall Results:

News submitted using Sailwave sailing scoring software.