RS800 European Championship at Medemblik, Holland

Prize winners at the RS800 European Championship © RS800 Class Association

Luke & Emma McEwen retain their RS800 European Championship title © RS800 Class Association

Eighteen RS800's made their way to sunny Medemblik last week for the 2017 European Championship. The Brits had a strong contingent of 13 boats, but in order to avoid a "Brits on Tour" feeling that would eventually turn into a stag do, many brought their wives and girlfriends as cover!

We were welcomed on day 1 with rain for rigging, followed by a briefing from the race officer to assure us the rain had stopped for the day and then we went racing in rain. Some say rain stops play, but that wasn't the case for Ella & James Moorland who got off to a flying start and led round the whole track... until of course Luke & Emma spotted a beautiful gust on the final downwind and pipped them to the post. Race 2 Luke & Emma got off to a flying start and pretty much lead all the way round, followed by Phil and John, followed by Ella & James.

After two races we were done and the fleet headed home for a group dinner at the sailing club. This was followed by "a few pints" in a local bar which turned into a massive night involving live bands, dancing, singing, debating the outcome of Brexit, more break dancing. It turns out that this may have been a race to the bottom between James & Ella, Andy & Maddy, Phil & John, Andy & Allison, Feibush and a whole host of others. Anyway a great night.

Day 2 dawned with, I think a bit of rain (can't say I can really remember), but the fleet launched promptly for a long sail out to the course in 8kts of breeze. The race officer kindly delayed the start by a few mins to allow most of the stragglers to get down to the starting area. Some however, were still reminiscing on last nights antics and didn't actually make the start. No guesses for who that was! Luke & Emma fired straight out of the blocks with a bullet with Martin & Ian putting in a great race to come 2nd, followed by Paul & Colin in 3rd. The 2nd race of the day was pretty spooky with the wind shutting off on different sides of the course and big shifts. However, the French team of Gilles & Matteo had managed to work it out to claim 1st, followed by Andy & Allison in 2nd and Andy & Maddy in 3rd. Race 3 was again a bit of an interesting one with Team France leading all the way round, only to find they were OCS! Luke & Emma sailed a solid race to upgrade their 2nd to a 1st following the French getting the chop, with Daniel & Debbie claiming 2nd and John & Debbi Booth getting 3rd. Race 4 saw Daniel & Debbie build on their recent 2nd place to take the win, followed by Phil & John then Paul & Colin.

There was no group dinner on night 2, but teams did their own thing and then met in a bar in town. There was much excitement about the forecast for day 3 and over the course of the evening the predictions went from a nice 8-12 knt forecast, to 12-15, to 15-18, to 18knts plus and no rain! On that note, everyone rushed off to bed to prepare themselves for a big day, and boy did Medemblik deliver! We launched in 8-10kts, sunshine and building breeze to have 3 fantastic races.

Race 1, Daniel & Debbie read the course just right and came flying out of the left hand corner to take a convincing win, followed by Team France, followed by Phil & John. Race 2 the wind had built a little bit and started to pull right. Team France saw this and went rushing off that way to round the windward mark 1st. However, over the two lap racecourse, Luke & Emma's immense pace reeled them in, with Phil & John taking another 3rd. The final race had arrived and after the right looking to deliver on the first beat, it was a pure trick, left paid! Luke & Emma sailed a pretty conservative race to play the shifts to round the first windward mark in a solid position and then continued to climb forward to take another win. On the first run / second beat, that right hand shift that had been tantalising some on the first beat came in hard. A 40 degree shift made for a relaxing second beat, but meant the final rag to the finish downwind was a massive gybe set, followed by a flat out on the edge blast to get not quite to the gate!

All in all, a great event, a very friendly club and a friendly town. Thanks to Medembik for hosting and we hope to see as many of you as possible at the UK nationals in Stokes Bay later this year. Or, come over to Hayling Island Sailing Club for the May bank holiday 3 day Whitsun Regatta – why not?!

Overall Results: