505 UK National Championship and Pre-Worlds at Hayling Island Sailing Club - Day 1

Champagne sailing but no fridges

The first day of the 505 UK National Championship, which also is serving as a pre-World Championship warm up for many top sailors from around the world, dawned with limited promise for good sailing.

In the morning the wind was light and fickle, and the locals were advising that the usual signals of sea breeze arriving were not to be seen. However, just proving the adage the "its not normally like this here", a steady breeze of 12 knots appeared from the south-west meaning only a 15 minute postponement was required for Race 1 and built steadily throughout the afternoon, allowing all three scheduled races to be completed with the wind increasing to a near perfect 15 knots by the end of race three, topped off with bright sunshine, but as was observed, nowhere to keep the bubbly cool.

At the halfway stage, the UK Championships are being led by Roger Gilbert and Ian Mitchell, lying third place in the overall standing, but two previous World Champions from the USA, are sitting ahead of them. Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn at the top of the list with Mike Holt and Carl Smit lying second. Hamlin and Zinn were the standout performers of the day, with two emphatic first places and one second, with the current Australian National Champion Malcolm Higgins, crewed at this event by Nicholas Johnston, leading the US team home in Race 3.

Three more races are scheduled for Saturday, with slightly more wind forecast from the same direction, so more fast and furious action is anticipated to determine who takes the UK 505 crown for this year, ahead of the World Championship starting on Monday 6th July.

Results after Day 1: