At WPNSA the Moody Decking RYA Schools Match Racing took place despite the forecasts. Saturday saw a good sailing breeze after a short wait, Sunday was stronger but we managed to get to ten flights completed which gave as a clear winner, Oliver Perkins of Royal Grammar School. He and his team of Charlie Fernandez, Charlie Dawkins and Ben Mueller (photo) were undefeated. Second were Cokethorpe, skippered by Barry Grey and third Royal Hospital School, James P Cooke.

Full results can be seen at if you Click Here. Photos can be seen by Clicking Here

The weather seemed to improve as you went north. Martin Smethers reports that the Bristol Brew at Chew Valley was won by Exeter with Southampton in second place. Steve Watson reports that the Loughborough Lemming had 98 races plus semis and finals in good winds. It was won bythe Southampton Red Team (aka Soton Alumni) of Ian and Sarah Tuppen , Hannah Jones and Jamie Barker + Callum Ellis and Tom Harrison. Second were Nottingham Green and third Newcastle Blue.

We believe that it is still possible to book on the Judges & Umpires CPD Weekend on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th January 2019 at World Sailing HQ in Paddington, London. For details Click Here  To Book Click Here. Go on - Treat Yourself!! It's Christmas!

Or Click Here to see another reason - well it amused me!

  At the end of Saturday the fleet was broken up into four leagues each of which completed a round robin and having been on cutdowns we went to full rig for the semis and finals. First through to the final were Bath Blue who beat Bristol Black 2:0. This was followed by the winner of the gold league, Bristol Red taking on the silver league winners, Exeter Red.Bristol Red went through to the final 2:0. Exeter finished third overall as the result of a sudden death race against Bristol Black.

The final had Bath 1,2,4 in the first race but Bristol came back in the second race finishing 1,4,5 setting up the decider. Unfortunately, for Bristol a couple of penalties from the umpires put paid to their chances in a very closely fought race and it was Bath Red who were the winners of the 2018 Welsh Dragon. 

Photos by Nigel can be seen if you Click Here

The Hallam Hangover at Pennine SC was also held this weekend of anyone has any info we will be happy to publish it. (Their Facebook page says 5 people went)

Don't Forget that BUSA Stage One Entries have to be in by Thursday 29th of December. BUSA Sailing Facebook page has the details. And Oxford have a flight of Fireflies for sale.

The Angel of the North had a smaller than usual entry due to the clash with the Scottish Qualifier but it did mean that everyone got lots of racing. A complete round robin was run on Saturday for the 12 teams present and on Sunday a double round robin was possible for the Gold and silver leagues before the Finals and Peti finals. The finals were virtually all Manchester with only Dambusters intruding on Manchester Exiles, Purple and Yellow. Both Semis went 2:0 leaving Exiles against Purple. First blood went to Purple 1,2,5 but in the second race a couple of penalties on the run cost them and Exiles finished 1,2,3 leading to a decider. Manchester Purple came off the line with a 1,2 which they held to the end giving the trophy to the team of Jenny Smallwood, Jon Mitchell, Rebecca Barry, Phil Aldhous, James Morson and Ella Vincent. Newcastle Red won the Silver Fleet. Photos can be seen if you Click Here

The Brummie Bender was won by the OTRA team of Adam Rathmell, Harry Barker and Alaric. Second were Warwick, third London and 4th Birmingham. Ideal conditions saw 129 races run with Semis and Finals. Photo of the winners on the right. Thanks to David Bickerton for the report

Scottish BUCS Qualifiers began at Bardowie Loch with Edinburgh Blue coming out on top. For more info Click Here

The Swansea Spartan had 14 teams from various uni’s (including from East England!)and racing kicked off by 10. With three flights of fireflies out we sped through 70 races. Everyone headed back to Swansea for a quick nap before whipping their togas on and heading to a rowdy curry at the Maharani Curry house and a boogey  On the Sunday 11 teams made it to the club, strong winds meant that we brought it down to 2 flights of boats. We got through 33 races and then 12 races made up the petite final and grand final. Final results were Exeter Red in 3rd, Portswood Pirates in 2nd and Swansea Alumni Sailing came in 1st. The Alumni were awarded with the Stanley Mon Cup, presented to the Commodore Bella by Richard Stanley. To see the full report and photos Click Here

The Oxford Magnum managed 80 races for the 20 teams entered, using cutdowns on the Saturday, this was followed by some 59 races for stage two in leagues on the Sunday and then Semis and Final. Full results can be seen on KSail. 

Semis saw Wessex Exempt beat Exeter Blue 2:1 while Silver league winners Society Exodus defeated Cambridge Blue 2:0. The finals went to three closely fought  races and it was looking good for Wessex Exempt, as they came into mark 4 on the third race with a 2,3,4. Unfortunately, failure to give mark room changed that to a losing combination and at the end of the beat the final score was 2,3,4 to the Society Exodus team of Peter Gray, Hermione Stanley, James Goss, Emma Mackeley, John Platts-Mills and Maddie Jackson. Photos can be seen if you Click Here

In Scotland they were nearer to the low pressure, which had been threatening the weekend and lost almost all of the racing on Saturday. On Sunday the Scottish Womens Team Racing Championships managed 36 races for the 9 teams entered under the HLS system before going to Semis and Finals. Semis were decided 2:0 with St Andreas beating Edinburgh Gals and Bardowie Beasts beating DUSC1. Edinburgh Gals won the sudden death Peti Final to take third place while Bardowie Beasts needed three races to defeat St Andreas 3:0 and become Scottish Womens Team Racing Champions. Full results at KSail

Leeds Halloween Howler lived up to its name, with some blustery winds for their 20 teams on Saturday. David Bickerton reports that they managed 120 races and then semis and finals. Birmingham White went undefeated all weekend to win with Newcastle Blue second then Loughborough and Durham.