Vago National Championships at Pevensey Bay Sailing Club

With the threat of the tail end of Hurricane Katia and a similar forecast, 12 hardy Vago crews braved the trip down to Pevensey Sailing Club to battle out for this year’s National Championships, along with the 2000 fleet.

Saturday dawned with the promise of wind and building swells, however the wind never really appeared with marginal trapezing conditions all day and some fluky shifts to add. The RO set 3 races for the day with a standard windward/leeward course. Race 1 got away cleanly with last year’s winners Jan & Dan (345) tussling with the Keen’s ( 1070) and the 2 Jack’s (0) all the way with neither side of the course really benefiting from one lap to the next. The Keen’s came out on top with Richard & Ryan (199) stealing 2nd spot from Jan & Dan (345).

Race 2 – certainly felt a little breezier with numerous weather fronts and clods coming through, which made some interesting calls on the beats. whether to stay with the breeze or go inshore out of the tide. The Keen’s (1070) came out on top again for their second bullet, followed by the 2 Jack’s (0) and Jan & Dan (345) in third. Things stayed the same for race 3 with the top 3 places taken the same as race 2.

A good evening was had by all with the live band, fantastic food laid on by the onsite catering (Gale & Helen – Thank You) and a few jars of the special guest ale certainly helped. With most people camping overnight, Sunday dawned early with the wind battering the campsite with the increasing sound of the shore break.

The shore crew certainly earned their stripes launching and recovering boats straight into a 2m+ swell. With the wind now well above the 20 knt mark and the huge swells plenty of boats were now the wrong way up keeping the safety team busy. Race 1 got away cleanly with the left side looking favourite. The 2 Jack’s (0) took the port flyer across the whole fleet, followed out by Steve & Rob (1541), Jan & Dan (345) and the Keen’s in (345). An untimely cleated jib sent Steve & Rob (1541) in for yet another swim. With the wind and swell now building, many boats began to struggle with the conditions. The RO to the sensible option and put up the shortened course which saw the 2 Jack’s take the gun first, followed by the big wind specialists Jan & Dan (345) in second, the Keen’s took 3rd (1070) to secure their second championships, followed by Steve & Rob (1541) in 4th.

Special thanks to Pevensey Bay Sailing Club and LaserPerformance for providing the prizes and T-shirts.

Overall Results: