After a dominant display in the round robin we raced Italian local Nicola Vescia in the semi finals, which whilst being over in two straight races was jam packed full of action with the sail handling skills of both teams being put under lots of pressure on the super short course in winds nearing the upper limit for racing. This put us up against the young German team skippered by Max Gurgle who were fresh from dealing out a black flag to Fabio Mazzoni in the other semi final. A heated pre start with lots of circles right underneath the ruins of an old fort gave the Germans a small advantage off the line which they converted into the slimmest of leads at the top mark. By now our crew work was looking a lot more polished and we used a slick hoist and some aggressive tactics to gain the lead on the run whilst landing a penalty on the opposition. Some slightly over cautious manoeuvring  at the bottom gave Gurgle the inside line at the leward mark putting him ahead but with an all important penalty still standing. The final run turned into a classic game of cat and mouse with neither boat hoisting spinnakers and the Germans trying to lure us into attacking and giving them a chance to offload their penalty. In the end a fumble at the committee boat left us with enough space to sneak into the finish whilst Gurgle span off his penalty turn. The second race provided slightly less drama after we edged out from a long drag race on the first beat to gain the lead and gradually extend around the course.

As well as providing some much needed ranking points, winning our first regatta of the year gives us a great confidence boost heading into our next two regattas, the Seaview Mermaid match race on the Ilse of Wight and the European Championships in Austiria.