Despite a few technical hitches such as the steering mechanism coming apart, Andy Guy came fourth in the single handed Hansa nationals held in Derbyshire. He also won the Endeavour Trophy for his efforts! Andy says: "I had such a blast competing with these experienced sailors and to come home 4th overall was more than I could have hoped for.
Big thanks to Carsington for putting on the event, Hansa for the loan of the boat and to Dart Sailability for all the help and advice for getting me this far." The event was held at Carsington Reservoir and Brian Hignett also competed with volunteer Tim Trent also present. Tim says: " Brian and Andy did Dart Sailability proud. Difficult wind conditions over three days saw eight hotly contested races. Both sailors fought hard for their respective places." Tim was part of the mark laying team and Olympic grade officers were on hand to ensure everybody including sailors, waterside and shoreside teams knew what was expected. Competitors came from as far afield as Oman and The Netherlands. Well done to everybody who made the event such a success.
Thanks to Rosie Thomas from Centurytribe21@outlook.com for letting us use her fab photo.
The Hansa Nationals are a really hotly contested event, with sailors with disabilities of all types competing on as level a set of terms as it is possible to create.
As a volunteer here and at Carsington Sailability I have a foot in both camps. I've spent a lot of time in the Midlands for the past 18 months, and I can tell you that the competition by Carsington's sailors was tough. Andy and Brian both did a fine job.
I wish the tide didn't restrict Dart from running a Hansa TT. I see the access to the water as a very difficult issue to solve for visiting boats, also shore storage overnight. But where there's a will there's a…