Hansa Class UK National Championships 2024 at Whitefriars Sailing Club

Hansa Class UK Nationals 2024 at Whitefriars © Nicky Durston

Hansa Class UK Nationals 2024 at Whitefriars © Nicky Durston

The Hansa National Championships were held at Whitefriars Sailing Club in the beautiful Cotswolds Water Park over three days from the 31st of May to the 2nd of June.

Attendance was good, with 32 boats taking part across the 4 fleets. We welcomed three international sailors, who traveled from The Netherlands and Ireland to compete; adding to the already highly competitive Liberty entry. There were 9 Liberty’s altogether, 12 Hansa 303 one-person entries, 7 303 2-person boats, and 4 Hansa 2.3’s in the event.

The weather threw up its usual challenges for the highly experienced and competent race team. This year the north/north easterly wind meant that it was very difficult to set a long beat on the lake. A short trapezoid course meant that there were lots of pinch points at mark rounding’s with all fleets meeting often. The windward mark threw up challenges because the tree line caused shifty conditions and a large range of wind strengths. Areas of pressure and holes led to many changes in positions across the fleets throughout the races.

In all of the fleets there were a few stand out performances who clearly read the conditions well to outperform the opposition. In the Liberty fleet Mike Everitt and Vera Vorbach dominated, with 7 1st places between them. Mike converted to the Liberty from a 303 for the event, and challenged Vera who is the current Hansa European champion and a former World champion. Going into the final day they were separated by just one point, but Mike came out on top to take the title of Hansa National Champion 2024.

In the Hansa 303 1-person fleet Rory McKinna, the 2023 National Champion was driven hard by Jazz Turner who sails with her assistance dog, Phoebe. Rory and Jazz shared the top 2 places across the board. Also down to the last day, Rory just nudged it, finishing on 9 points compared with Jazz’s 11, thereby retaining the trophy.

The 2-person fleet was more of a three horse race between Lynne Swan with her husband Stuart, father and son team Harry and Nick Holland, and Rick and Sue Jillings. With 5 1st places Lynne and Stuart took the title, the Holland’s 2nd, and the Jillings 3rd.

Lindsay Burns retained her title in the 2.3 class, with Lara Sturgis 2nd, and Phil Monk, who is a newcomer to Hansa events from the home club, coming 3rd. Phil was new to sailing at the end of last season.

Each year a sailor is awarded the Endeavour award which recognises extraordinary effort. This year it was won by Sophie Brisley. At 13, and had never attended a Hansa event, let alone a Nationals before, Sophie was nervous about taking part, coming last, and getting in the way of others. In fact she finished 10th overall and had a 6th and 7th place along the way, no mean feat in such an experienced fleet.

Hansa Class UK Nationals 2024 at Whitefriars - photo © Nicky Durston

Alongside the racing there is always a lovely social scene between sailors and volunteers from the Hansa community and the host club. This year we enjoyed a quiz and a BBQ on the Friday, a curry night on Saturday, and finished the event with freshly made cream tea on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Many thanks to WSC members, Simon who catered the weekend, and Jo and Pauline for the delightful cream teas. The perfect end to a fantastic event.

For more photos please visit the class website, www.hansaclass.org.uk

For more information about the Hansa Class follow us on Facebook or Instagram @HansaClassUK.

Overall Results: