Noble Marine / Sailingfast ILCA 6 Qualifier 2 at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

The day started with an ESE of 22Knots gusting to 30+. Breeze was relatively stable but the left looked good all day. A good clean start and speed seemed to be the goal as once you were out in front it was simpler to manage the fleet.

The top hitters of the day looked to be Alfie Noel and Robin Phipps. But it was great to see more female sailors punching the top group and both Charlotte Videlo and Amelie Hacker did just that in the challenging conditions. Gretel Haines who was the top U17 female scored a best result of 19 in race 3 which is also great to see in these tough conditions.

Noble Marine/Sailingfast ILCAUK Qualifier 2 at Weymouth - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

It was a day full of managing risk on avoiding any unnecessary capsizes as it proved even if you were in a position of leading you could still end up just outside the top 10. Playing the fleet was another thing to keep in mind with making decisions to stay in phase or is there a position to split and take further risk.

Noble Marine/Sailingfast ILCAUK Qualifier 2 at Weymouth - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

Day 2 brought the other end of the spectrum with lighter winds of around 5kts where linking pressure and a clear start was key. The first race saw a pin end bias which was key to take advantage of to get the first gain of the race.

Staying in phase with the fleet on the correct side which was the left was key to ensure a top position. In the only race of the day, Cameron Bignold-Kyles scored a bullet, beating Jon Emmett in second, with both Freddie Sunderland and Archie Munro-price close behind.

The ILCAUK (N.B. new name for UKLA) Qualifier series is kindly sponsored by Noble Marine, Ovington Boats, Sailingfast and Rooster. In Qualifier 2 Noble Marine and Sailingfast supplied the prizes which were gratefully received by all the sailors.

Massive thanks to all the volunteers, who without this event would not be possible. WPNSA were also fantastic, making pasta after sailing and making us feel very welcome. Sailors are looking forward to the next weekend where we back in Weymouth.

Thanks to Jon Emmett for Interviews on Facebook and Lotte Johnson for photos.

Overall Results:

Noble Marine/Sailingfast ILCAUK Qualifier 2 at Weymouth - photo © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com