Stokes bay delivered an epic first day of conditions for a record number of sailors (56) attending a UK national championship. With winds from 12 to 14 knots and gusts up to 20 and the now infamous Solent chop, many were pushed to the limit of their abilities.

First race honours went to Arnaud Psarofaghis (Mach 2) of Switzerland followed closely by local Jason Belben (Ninja), Hayling Island’s Simon Payne (Mach 2) and Chris Rashley (Ninja)

With winds freshening and stablilising in the late teens, the usual suspects found their groove and began to make an impression on the leading pack however, the day belonged to Jason Belben who put in two further solid races to consolidate his first day results with two bullets in races two and three.

Arnaud put in enough to secure second place going in to day two with Ex world, current European and National Champion Simon Payne in third spot.

Young Gun Chris Rashley is 1 point behind Simon lying in fourth.

The rest of the top ten consisted of a mixture of the Hayling Squad led by Mike Lennon and Richard Lovering and other rising stars Peter Barton, Tom Offer and Ben Paton.

After the racing an interesting Q & A session with top three sailors was held giving an opportunity for the rest of the sailors to get some tips from the top three racers of the day.

Friday’s forecast looks like its’ doubtful that there will be racing however Saturday and sunday look promising!