Fireball Open at Hayling Island Sailing Club

Fireballs at Hayling Island © Peter Hickson

Fireballs at Hayling Island © Peter Hickson

Fireballs at Hayling Island © Peter Hickson

With a perfect weather forecast, 8 visitors made the trip to join 14 local fireballs to sail on the water of this years UK Global National Championships. As the competitors rigged in the sunshine, it became apparent that there may be a sea breeze on its way.

The sail to the start area in Hayling Bay saw the sea breeze over rule the gradient, and after an hours delay, racing was underway. The race officer set a sprint course, and at second time of asking the fleet were away. Tom Gillard yielded an early lead to Matt Burge, who went onto win the race, with Tom remaining in second. Dave Hall, sailing with Tim Riley came in third. The second sprint race of the day saw Tom and Richard left high and dry on the left of the course, and with light winds, Matt Burge and Rich Wagstaff went on for their second bullet of the day. Kev Hope and Russell Thorne sailing their brand new boat come in second with locals David Sayce and Nick Rees securing third.

With such short courses, the starts were all important Matt Burge and Rich Wagstaff checked that the left still wasn't paying, while fleet newcomers James Rushden and Dan Schieber were putting in solid performances – they took the lead of race 3 from Kev and Russell on the last (now extended) beat, and after a scrappy race Tom and Richard finally recovered to 2nd.

Emsworth played host to the fleet for a Saturday night curry, and with 2 shifts laid on at the curry house, some 30 party goers were in mixed states on Sunday morning.

A 10 knot westerly kicked off Sunday, and with plenty of sunshine, there was lots of scope for another sea breeze. The race officer laid a full length course, and the fleet quickly learnt that going hard right up the beat was the only safe way to get around - Dave Sayce and Nick Rees picked up an ice cream and a large lead on their way into the first mark. It looked unlikely that they would be caught, but James and Dan slowly wound them down to take the lead on the last lap, with Matt and Richard securing another third place. Jazz Sayed and John Piatt just snuck into the top 10 with their best race of the weekend.

Race 2 followed a similar pattern, though the sea breeze kicked in on lap 2, and saw a 30 degree swing to the south. The lightweight pair of James and Dan briefly took the lead from Tom and Richard, but as the sea breeze came in then struggled with a very tight 3 sailed reach. Kev and Russell came from 4th rolling both Matt and Richard, and James and Dan to take 2nd.

Race 3 saw 15-20 knots across the course, and champagne conditions. With the course quickly reset racing got under way on a port biased line. Only Tom and Richard seemed to notice, so took the 10 boat length head start, and were never seen again. A tight race for second ensued, which also featured Sam Mettam and Tim Saunders – though they cooled off with a little swim and removed themselves from the fight. James and Dan eventually pulled out a lead and secured second place ahead of Matt and Richard. Christine Slater and Graham Slater had their best race to come in 6th.

The top 3 places were split by only 2 points, with Tom and Richard just ahead of Matt and Richard, with James and Dan in a hard earned third.

The UK Global Nationals at Hayling looks certain to be top notch event. Early entry closes on 27th May.

Overall Results: