There seems to be a rhythm to my sailing year and there is always one big event that focuses my training for the year. In 2024 it was the RS Aero world championships in August at Hayling Island, a five-day event.

I’d trained hard and was in pretty good shape going into the event, and went with the 7m rig which is my natural rig size. The wind turned out to be light for most of the days, so I could probably have stepped up to the 9m rig.

I had re-repoed the boat and had some work done to get it competition-ready, but suffered a gear failure on day one which cost me a race on the best wind day. This was so frustrating! An emergency fix using a ton of electrical tape got me going again in race three, and RS Sailing replaced the broken part that day at HISC (thanks guys).

Big fleet sailing at this level is very different to club racing, and I felt comfortable in the Aero 7 fleet of 65 boats, and the fray at the race starts, a first. My sail was 3328 and I’m on the left in the photo below.

I’d trained hard for strong wind conditions, even bulking up a bit, but there was only one strong wind day and this got me my best result, 39 out of 65. Days 2-4 were very light wind days and it took me a while to get the hang of big fleet sailing in those conditions.

Day 5 had a mix of conditions. It was looking good for a mid-fleet result in the penultimate race, but I blew it with a dumb capsize on the final run, to then watch a big chunk of the fleet sail past me. Doh! Live and learn.

Events like this accelerate learning and I picked up some great tips after racing (thanks Rich) that helped with the light conditions and have improved my sailing.

It was interesting doing a race in Swanage for the first time after the event. My head was way more ‘out of the boat’ looking out at the fleet and race course, and my sailing felt more automatic. The bay also felt so empty.

Big thanks to Hayling Island Sailing Club for putting on such an epic event, RS Sailing for the support with equipment and repairs, and Peter Barton and the RS Aero Association for organising it and running such a great class.