Selden 53rd Solo National Championship & Nation's Cup - Day 2
by Will Loy 3 Aug 2015 19:18 UTC
1-7 August 2015
After being belted by strong winds and rain overnight the fleet awoke to skies as blue as the Mediterranean and a totally inappropriate air temperature of 20 degrees. Fortunately, Selden's generous sponsorship deal had allowed the NSCA to provide the entire fleet and race officials with a T shirt each, much to the relief of those with only drysuits and jumpers in their suitcases.
The breeze was at 12-15mph with some healthy gusts as the fleet prepared to launch. PRO Ted Hill was on station and with a sudden increase in pressure to a steady 28mph with gusts in excess of this events limit of 30mph, made the decision to delay racing. The fleet sat ashore in the lee of Berwick Law and fidgeted with rig settings.
Two hours passed and with gusts recorded from the race area of 43mph and no indication from the Met office of a reduction in the near future, racing was abandoned for the day. The fleet made off to local restaurants, golf courses and distilleries to drown sorrows, celebrate abandonments and dissect the PRO decision process.
Only 20 minutes had passed when the white horses that had adorned each and every wave in the bay disappeared, to be replaced by a steady 15-18mph. The lofty position of PRO really sucks when that happens. I myself heard nearly 70 different weather forecasts and predictions and the anguish and frustration etched on the race teams faces as they came off the water was easily recognizable.
Robbie Wilson went out to play and his highlights are included in the video below.
So with only one race completed so far and strong breezes forecast for tomorrow the decision has been made to possibly re-schedule racing for an earlier start time and add an extra race per day to the two race format.
Tonight attention turns to the Annual General Meeting and also the SELDEN raffle with the chance to win a new mast or one of two booms, courtesy of SELDEN.
When racing does resume it is Charlie Cumbley who will be wearing the event leader rash vest, sponsored by Rooster Sails. The traditional 'Tour de France' yellow has been ditched for a very fetching blue version, another ground breaking National Solo Class first!