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LASER PICO NATIONALS – COLWYN BAY – JULY 3/4TH 2010
Mindful
of
our
regular
annual
visit
to
the
Pico
Challenge
we
were
excited
by
the
fact
that
this
year
it
was
to
incorporate
the
Nationals.
Our
minds
dwelt
on
the
excitements
of
much
bigger
fleets
with
the
great
and
the
good
from
up
and
down
the
country
flocking
to
race
in
the
Nationals
in
the
Welsh
briny
of
Colwyn
Bay.
We
arrived
at
the
eerily
deserted
beach
at
lunchtime
for
an
afternoon
of
coaching
and
practice.
The
local
RYA
coach
led
us
through
the
afternoon
as
mainly
Rydal
Penrhos
and
Sedbergh
boats
took
to
the
water,
after
Rydal
had
finished
their
sports
day,
carefully
calendared
to
clash
with
this
national
event
hosted
by
the
same
school!
The
wind
was
up
and
the
sea
tasted
salty.
The
rescue
boats
were
given
plenty
to
do
as
the
younger
members
of
the
fleet
all
managed
to
show
their
bottoms
to
the
sky.
Eventually
the
prep
school
sailors,
sailing
their
Bugs,
were
shepherded
safely
to
the
shore.
The
Sedbergh
contingent
was
strengthened
by
the
inclusion
of
Killington
sailor,
Jack
Lawson,
who
is
no
stranger
to
travelling
with
the
Sedbergh
sailing
team.
Top
five
finishes
for
Patrick
Shellcock,
crewed
by
Simon
Colley
and
Jack
Lawson
boded
well
for
the
next
day’s
competitive
sailing.
Llandudno’s
bowling
alley
was
ritually
visited
although
the
combined
team
score
might
have
disgraced
an
errant
welsh
dragon.
Saturday
dawned
with
a
good
wind
and
some
sun.
Jack
and
Pat
were
on
form
with
a
couple
of
firsts
apiece
in
the
morning’s
three
races.
Meanwhile
in
the
Regatta
fleet,
Felix
Zinkann
and
Helen
McConnel
were
also
holding
up
the
honour
for
Germany
and
Sedbergh
coming
off
the
water
in
4/5th
position.
The
afternoon
saw
less
wind
but
the
competition
was
hotting
up
in
the
Championship
fleet
with
only
a
few
points
separating
the
top
sailors
and
a
possible
collusive
relationship
between
the
Rydal
boats
building
up
to
keep
Jack
away
from
the
top
position.
Nothing
deterred
he
continued
to
sail
consistently
and
managed
a
three
point
lead
overnight.
Patrick
and
Simon,
however
were
neck
and
neck
with
a
pair
of
Rydal
sailors
and
indeed
felt
strongly
enough
that
they
protested
the
other
boat
but
the
PRO
dismissed
their
protest
on
the
basis
that
they
had
not
used
the
word
“protest”
on
the
water.
Felix
had
managed
to
inch
his
way
up
to
2nd
in
the
regatta
fleet,
but
the
frontrunner
in
that
fleet
was
miles
out
of
reach
and,
arguably,
should
have
been
in
the
top
fleet.
Helen
maintained
her
mid
fleet
position,
but
only
separated
by
8
points
from
the
2nd
place
–
below
her
was
a
clear
12
points
down
to
the
next
contender.
The
barbecue
gave
us
another
opportunity
to
test
our
mettle
with
a
good
“It’s
a
Knockout”
giving
us
a
chance
to
show
off
our
skills
with
wellie
filling
and
throwing.........
although
Dr
Ripley
managed
to
get
into
the
winning
wellie
filling
team,
no
further
honours
were
won!
We woke up to the anticipated 50 mph gusting wind and prudence saw no further sailing attempted. Cumbria came away with the spoils.....
Jack Lawson Pico S/H National Champion
Patrick
Shellcock
+
Simon
Colley
Pico
D/H
National
Champions
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TEAM
QUOTES
Helen
McConnel:
The
weekend
was
loads
of
fun.
The
racing
was
good
because
the
wind
was
up
and
blowing
everyone
over.
I
managed
to
stay
dry
apart
from
the
spray
that
the
boat
turned
up.
The
jelly
fish
were
kept
at
bay
and
there
was
no
injuries
apart
from
a
few
blows
to
the
head
by
the
boom.
I
enjoyed
the
weekend
because
on
the
water
the
was
a
competitive
streak
but
off
the
water
everyone
was
at
ease
with
each
other.
Jack
Lawson:
Some
good
wind
(albeit
shifty)
and
competitive
racing
was
seen
at
the
front
of
the
fleet
during
Saturday.
We
had
three
races
before
dinner
and
three
after
because
we
knew
that
there
were
some
big
winds
coming
for
Sunday.
The
three
races
before
dinner
were
pretty
standard,
good
racing
apart
from
the
fact
that
a
bee
decided
to
sting
me
on
the
lip
while
I
was
racing.
After
dinner
we
came
out
to
big
swell
but
not
much
wind.
This
is
where
people
with
a
good
knowledge
of
the
surrounding
waters
knew
what
they
were
doing
better.
The
whole
weekend
was
very
social
off
the
water,
which
was
great
to
relax
after
a
good
day’s
sailing.
Simon
Colley:
We
had
a
great
and
very
successful
weekend,
with
some
fantastic
sailing
conditions
on
the
Saturday
but
ridiculously
strong
winds
on
Sunday
causing
the
racing
to
be
off.
Me
and
Patrick
who
sailed
doubled
handed
had
a
great
day
on
the
Saturday
and
came
off
the
water
with
some
fantastic
results
and
leading
by
2
points
in
the
championship
fleet.
We
had
some
very
competitive
racers
among
us
and
it
was
very
close
at
the
end
of
the
first
day
as
we
had
very
similar
results
as
our
opposition.
On
Sunday
the
winds
were
very
strong
and
we
were
disappointed
that
it
was
off
as
we
were
hoping
to
extend
our
lead
at
the
top
of
the
table.
However
we
still
had
a
great
weekend
and
a
fantastic
result.
Patrick
Shellcock
has
no
quotes
since
he
was
suffering
from
illness
all
w/e
which
made
him
even
more
relieved
that
he
didn’t
have
to
race
on
Sunday.....
Felix
Zinkann:
We
got
a
great
weekend
with
some
really
good
sailing
on
Saturday
and
on
Friday
.On
Sunday
the
wind
was
too
strong
so
we
couldn’t
race,
but
all
in
all
we
got
some
pretty
good
results
at
this
weekend
with
two
1st
and
one
2nd
place.
I’m
glad
that
I
went
to
this
event.
I
did
really
enjoy
the
weekend
with
a
lot
of
fun
and
hope
to
go
next
year
again.
There
was
a
great
water
fight
as
well
with
the
main
leader
Helen
McConnel,
at
the
BBQ
on
Saturday.
She
made
other
people
wet
but
she
didn’t
want
to
get
wet
at
all.
So
she
stayed
in
the
building
and
was
looking
at
us
smiling
and
saying:
“That
is
my
life
I
can
do
with
it
what
I
want!!”
On
Saturday
evening
at
the
BBQ
there
was
a
mini
“It’s
a
Knock
Out”
as
well
that
was
fun.
Our
group
came
2nd
LAST,
but
we
really
didn’t
care
-
we
were
just
messing
around!
All in All a perfect weekend with a lot of fun.