Zhik 29er National Championships at Pwllheli Sailing Club

29er nationals at Pwllheli © Andy Green / www.fotoboat.com

The 2010 Zhik 29er National Championship was hosted by Pwllheli Sailing Club, North Wales. Needless to say expectations were high for both the weather and the sailing.

The briefing was held on Sunday, a sunny day but with little wind to train.

Monday dawned much the same with a light breeze greeting the fleet of 41 boats, including three French boats and an Irish team. Racing got underway on time and the fleet were immediately pushing the line, resulting in a general recall and the black flag for the rest of the day. In race one, Sam Watson and Henry Collinson were the first boat to the first mark, where the 14 boats that had fallen foul of the black were pulled out. Alex Mothersele and Hamish Ellis then put in a good downwind to pull out first. Race two started in similar conditions with crews still in front of the mast. This time Watson/Collinson held their place all the way round to take the first. The unluckiest boat in the fleet must now go to Phil Walker and John Mather who managed to rack up a second black flag. The final race of the day went to Ian Payne and Chris Berry, who went out saying “this bullet has our name on it.” No one got in the way. The fleet returned to shore for a fantastic Welsh Lamb Roast courtesy of the sailing club.

Day two proved surprisingly windy, with many teams being fooled from the beach and opting for lighter tensions. The heavy crews finally got to stretch their legs and Henry Lloyd-Williams and Sam Batten blasted around to take the first and last race wins, with the French team of Gael Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet taking the middle one. The fleet was very grateful to the race officer for his quick turn around, with the feet all in and out within three hours.

For Wednesday Pwllheli lived up to its wavy reputation even if the wind never did properly materialise. David Conlon and Finbar Anderson seemed to enjoy it however with a score line of 1, 8, 1 rocketing them up the board. Lloyd-Williams/Batten remained consistent with 2, 7, 2 and all three French boats put in good scores to boost them to the top of the leader board.

Thursday was the scary day for a lot of the fleet with results causing the fleet to ask for a postponement to allow grade collection and potential clearing. Fortunately it wasn’t really needed. The race committee had taken the decision to run four races due to the “extreme” conditions expected on Friday. The French teams bagged the bullets, two for Jaffrezic/Bloyet and one for Erwan Fischer/Julien Thibault with Lloyd-Williams/Batten taking the final first. Conlon/Anderson had another consistent day placing them top Brits and National Champions going into the final day. Fin later admitted he didn’t sleep a wink...

Friday did in the end live up to its “extreme” predictions and racing was canned by ten o’clock. Sailors enjoyed all the attractions of North Wales, namely a pub lunch and GoKarting before the grand Prizegiving and Black Tie Dinner.

This was enjoyed to the full by all, the PRO saying him and his team would bring their DJ’s next year. The first all lady boat was Philly Gray and Jo Lucas in 17th overall, first master, despite two BFDs was Walker/Mather in 11th and the first mixed team was Joan Furness and Will Carlisle in 21st. Many thanks and prizes were awarded with Fin making a speech to rival Churchill and with a final farewell walked off to a standing ovation.

Overall Results: