Burghfield

Burghfield is the first regatta of the season and always a challenging one as there are lots of ‘natural’ obstacles to negotiate such as islands and pylons! There were great winds and although I had a collision on the start line (it could have been worse!) I did very well coming in 2nd in my fleet.

Grafham & The English National Championships (24-25 May)

The wind was so fierce on Saturday, gusting 30 knots and on-shore, that racing had to be abandoned! I was really disappointed but it was decided that it would have been too dangerous to launch and retrieve the Challengers in these conditions. By Sunday, although it was now raining as well, the wind had changed directions so racing was on! I came in 4th in my fleet, very wet but so much fun, just brilliant sailing!

Calshot

Transition Squad training was organised for 30th May to 1st June at Calshot Activity Centre at the end of Calshot Spit near Southampton. This was meant to give those amongst us who had never sailed on the sea some experience before going off to the Worlds in July. Sadly there was no wind at all on the Saturday morning so we ended up just drifting with the tide but thankfully by the afternoon the wind had got up so we had a good 3 hours training. Crossing the shipping lanes weren’t too much fun but we all lived to tell the tale!

The WETA

I have a new challenge coming up later in the year and will be going to Bognor Yacht Club to test out the WETA. This is a 2 man tri-maran which is for able-bodied sailors but being disabled, I will be checking out how versatile it is and whether it could be adapted for sailors less able than myself. Watch this space!

Accident

It’s been a ‘dry’ winter for me since my accident – I fell on a glass which went straight through my hand. I haven’t been able to sail since 25th January but Thursday night training at BTYC started on 3rd April and I went down to give a talk about how to rig/de-rig, launch and retrieve the Challenger which was very interesting!

Round the Island

I am very excited about this years’ JP Morgan Round the Island Race because it will be my first time competing. I will be crewing for a friend in a 2 man boat which is a 20’ pure-breed racer of the Americas Cup yachts, the Artemis 20.

Burghfield

Although one of the smallest and historically with the fewest competitors, this regatta held on 25-26 April, gives a good challenge as most of the sailors are the best and it is home to some very ‘interesting’ obstacles in the reservoir! This will be my first regatta of the season and my first serious sail since my accident.

IFDS Multihull World Championships

The IFDS Multihull World Championships are taking place this year from 4th – 12th July in Cascais, Portugal. If they are half as exciting as the Internationals that I competed in last year in Greece then I know I have really got something to look forward to. I am still trying to raise sufficient funding for my travel and accommodation as sadly there is not much out there for Paralympic hopefuls! I need to buy my own Challenger too so if there is anybody out there who can help or you just want more information, please contact my campaign manager Morna Hughes at morna.hughes@ryasailability.org

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