Miracle National Championship 2026 at South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club - Day 2
by Hannah Metcalfe-Smith 12 Aug 08:22 BST
Day two at Abersoch got off to a smooth start with the wind blowing from the south-west at a decent clip.
Race 1
The first race went on the first go, with the fleet splitting across the port and starboard sides of the course.
Hannah Metcalfe-Smith (3805), sailing with local lad Teddy went left, with Mum and Dad, Nick and Lynn Smith (4115) going to the right. Hannah and Teddy slipped back to sixth, with Nick and Lynn securing another bullet to add to their two from the previous day.
Ian and Lilly Brown (4098) were 7th around the windward mark and on the second beat improved to fourth and held the position to the end to secure a nationals best race result. Graham and Helen (4130) were in second place for two and half laps with Wayne and Angela (4121) overtaking to nick 2nd place at the end.
Race 2
Richard and Teddy (3813) were third around the windward mark after going left and were able to hold this until the last leg up the beat and dropped down to 7th. Wayne and Angela were 2nd throughout and held on. Graham and Helen were showing consistent form today, battling for third with Richard and Teddy and passed them down the run to the finish. During the race there was a change of wind direction, and the race committee swiftly moved the mark and ensured we were racing to the best possible course. On the third windward leg there was a big bunch up at the mark, and Simon and Ali (4050) used this to good effect to take up a few places and secured fourth position and retained this to end of the race.
On the first windward leg, Wayne and Angela and Nick and Lynn were neck and neck with Nick sneaking across in front to tack on top to claim the place and were uncatchable.
Race 3
The race was set at four laps but shortened to three in the end. Richard Smith made an unplanned exit from his boat on the start line in the last race of the day but managed to get back in via grabbing the boat with his ankle and not hit any other boats in the melee. When him and Teddy eventually started the race however, they were so far behind they couldn't make up the places.
There was tussling on the start line to get the best spot, with Wayne and Angela boxed in, so were 5th around the windward mark, and worked their way up to 2nd place. Graham and Helen went over Simon and Ali to claim third place overall in the final race of the day after they got in front on the windward leg. Simon and Ali lead the race and were eventually overtaken by Lynn and Nick who claimed their third bullet of the day.