Scottish sailors enjoy dream start to 2018 RS:X Youth Nationals
by Will Carson, RYA 14 Apr 2018 06:15 BST
13-15 April 2018
2018 RS:X Youth National Championships - Day 1 © Rick Tomlinson / RYA
Scotland's Isaac Lines got his bid for the 2018 RS:X Youth National Championships bid off to a near-perfect start on Friday winning three of the four opening races.
Lines, 18, from Dunoon in Argyll & Bute, established himself as the sailor to beat in the boys' fleet as three days of action got underway in Portland Harbour, Dorset.
In the girls' division fellow Scot Erin Watson, 18, ends the day on top with her 17-year-old sister Islay, bronze medallist at last week's Techno European Championships, in second place.
A light but chilly south-westerly breeze greeted the record fleet of 29 windsurfers, all under the age of 21, as they launched from the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA).
The wind wasn't strong enough to get the boards planing, and so it became a battle of physicality as the sailors pumped their sails upwind and downwind.
In all four races it was Lines (Toward Sailing Club) who was first to the windward mark, and each time he managed to extend that lead by the end of two laps of the course.
It looked like Lines was on for a clean sweep as he led the fleet around the course on the fourth and final race of the day.
However his hopes were scuppered when race officials ruled he had jumped the gun at the start and disqualified him, handing him a maximum 15 points in the process.
Even so, he goes into day two with a three-point lead over second-placed Finn Hawkins (Porthpean Sailing Club), and a four-point buffer on Adam Phipps in third.
"It was a good day but super-tough," Lines said. "I was really happy to win all the races but then also really disappointed to get disqualified from the last one.
"Everyone is on top of their games and the racing is great. Tomorrow I need to play it safe – I have that disqualification on my shoulders now so I can't make many more mistakes."
Aviemore's Watson (Loch Insh) was equally dominant in the girls' fleet, winning three races and counting a second in race three as her worst result of the day.
She sits four points ahead of her younger sister Islay, with Mollie Robbins from WPNSA five points back.
"We had a classic day today – light winds and shifty, and getting those shifts right was a priority," Watson said.
"I had a good day but the competition is really tight. Tomorrow is going to be a bit like today so I will make sure I get my priorities right as soon as I get out on the water, and play it like I did today."
Home sailor Lily Young, from WPNSA, scored the only other race win of the day.
The forecast for tomorrow is for similarly light winds but higher temperatures, with big breeze due to come through for the final day on Sunday.
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