Splash National Championships at Christchurch Sailing Club

Action from the Splash National Championships 2012 © Luwe Stroosma

Action from the Splash National Championships 2012 © Luwe Stroosma

Despite its best efforts, the miserable weather could not dampen the enthusiasm and energy of the 21 Dutch, English and Polish Splash sailors who assembled at Christchurch for the biggest and most memorable Splash National Championship in recent years.

With 12 members of the Netherlands “Top Talent” team arriving fresh from Nieuwpoort Week for the UK Nationals, the event had a truly International feel and the atmosphere both on and off the water was terrific.

Friday was an informal practice day for the Dutch team with a handful of British sailors joining them under the supervision of head coach Peter Van Acken.

On Saturday we were greeted by a building south-easterly breeze and torrential rain. Shortly before race time it became apparent that conditions in Christchurch Bay were becoming treacherous and, after a short postponement, race officer Andrew Rushworth wisely decided to hold 2 races in the shelter of Christchurch Harbour.

In the strong winds the power and technique of the Dutch team became apparent and they pretty much dominated the day with Pascal Meijer winning race 1 convincingly, while Laura Van Veen showed great technique to win Race 2 and take a narrow lead in the overall standings. Best British performance was Ben Haynes who managed 8th place in race 1. With a number of breakages and retirements the fleet was happy to return ashore for a well deserved rest.

Sunday, by contrast, turned out warm and sunny with a light north-westerly breeze. Eager to make up for lost time the fleet headed out to sea early for 4 races.

Day 2 was dominated by Jelmer Zittema who took 3 wins from the 4 races. Dennis De Jeu posted a good series of top 4 places and moved up the leaderboard to 3rd overall, behind Pascal Meijer.

The British sailors fared better in the lighter winds, with Joanne Arnell getting in amongst the Dutch squad with a 6th and 8th, but the last race was to be decisive as Ben Haynes sailed into an excellent 4th place which was enough to make him the leading UK boat and therefore National Champion for 2012.

At the prize-giving, Splash Chairperson Charli Hadden thanked the CSC race team and also the visiting sailors for making this such an excellent event.

The Dutch team and 4 British sailors will meet up again in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, in less than 2 weeks for the Splash Dinghy World championships from July 20th to 27th.

Overall Results: