2010 RN Dinghy Racing Championships

The Inaugural RN Dinghy Racing Championships was held on 14 Jul 2010

And they’re off!

In the shadows of Navy Command HQ, HMS Bristol and HMS Dauntless, the first ever RN Dinghy Sailing Championships was held on a blustery July day, bringing together both Novices and National Champions for the first time in Portsmouth Harbour. Teams from right across the spectrum of the Royal Navy were represented, from areas as diverse as JSU Corsham, HMS Monmouth, HMS Sultan and RNAS Culdrose.

In order to cater for all sailing standards, the organisers decided to split the teams across two fleets, with novices sailing the venerable Bosun and the more experienced, in a ‘Championship Fleet’ sailing Laser 2000s (L2Ks).

The aim for the event was initially for 10 short races, but the strong tides and occasional squalls in Portsmouth Harbour, meant that the programme was reduced to just 7. A good racing breeze of 10-15 knots presented some challenging sailing conditions under a leaden sky, but thankfully, for this inaugural event, the forecast 25 knots of wind did not materialise, although during one particular squall, the race committee tried in vain to recover their anchor whilst simultaneously trying to find ways of preventing the race course drifting down the harbour.

The Novice Fleet enjoyed some quality close racing around the triangular course. Race wins were split between several different boats, with many of the crews in contention at several points in the meet, including the HMS Nelson team of Jez Williams and Ben Ward who were regularly in contention at each race start, along with Mark Flanagan and Robin Wain (Navy Command HQ) and Chris Greenway and Robby Roberts (Fleet Diving Unit). In the end it was Rob Kent and AJ Ainsworth (HMS Collingwood) who prevailed, taking the trophy, with all of the Novices keeping their boats upright and the sails hoisted the right way up, which is more than can be said for the ‘experts’ in the ‘Championship Fleet’ sailing the more skittish L2Ks.

In the ‘Championship Fleet’, the 2-lap, 25 minute windward-leeward course gave some very tight racing for the teams in the L2Ks. Natalie Roach and Nigel Amphlett (RNAS Culdrose) opened their account by winning race1, but afterwards managed to allow Hamish Walker and Kate Rooke (702NAS) to get the better of them for the remainder of the day. Gavin Marshall and Andy Young (HMS Sultan) started the regatta well, but lost their way later on, with Sam Mettam and Ben Biglin (HMS Monmouth) rising up the scoreboard having learnt the hard way, not to heat up a Laser 2000 downwind!

Thanks go to the team at the RN Sailing Centre, Whale Island for providing the facilities for the day, the Race Committee and Safety team and also to Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey KCB CBE ADC for presenting the successful teams with their trophies.

Plans are already underway to make next year’s RN Championships even more successful. In the meantime, summer is not over yet and there are still more events for both Novices and Experts to get involved with in 2010. The Holt Cup, which has been traditionally held in the spring, has this year, been moved to the Autumn to coincide with the start of the UK’s team dinghy racing season. The Holt Cup is an excellent event for those wanting to get started in RN Dinghy Racing and is always well attended, with often up to 50-60 sailors of all capabilities coming together from across the RN, competing in Bosuns on the River Dart. The 2010 Holt Cup will be held on 27-28 November at BRNC Dartmouth (the water will still be warm!). If you want to get involved, please contact your area rep, even if all you can do is pull on a rope, you will be made very welcome.

For those of you interested in more challenging events, there are still many than the RN is intending to enter this year. For more details, visit these pages where there is a host of information, including contact details of our team and you can also apply through your local rep to be included on our private Google Group and Facebook page.

See you on the water!

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