Noble Marine RS400 Nationals 2026 at Hayling Island Sailing Club - Day 2
by Nicola Willars 11 Sep 13:19 PDT
10-13 September 2026
Not going to lie, that day-one briefing had us quietly wondering whether we'd ever see dry land again. We're silver-fleet sailors from a tiny Nottinghamshire gravel pit, so Hayling Bay felt... large.
While rigging, a top ILCA sailor, making his debut in the RS400s asked us for advice (poor guy) and borrowed a bobble. He then won a race today, so obviously that was our victory too. Watching the gold fleet blast past, we did briefly wonder if they were sailing entirely different boats.
As pond sailors, we're still learning how to survive the lumpy beats and the "hold-onto-your-soul" downwinds. Yesterday we cracked open the celebratory no-capsize Haribo far too early, forgetting the incoming tsunami on the sail home. Apparently that's just... normal here.
Day two brought lots of smiles as the fleet launched and lighter airs, which we foolishly assumed meant flatter water. Our results immediately confirmed otherwise. At the first leeward mark we ran over the kite, the crew heroically went forward to rescue it, and promptly took a dip. Still, we finished — and unlike our new silver-fleet pals, we kept our boom and weren't Black Flagged so that's basically a win.
Race two started beautifully: clear air, confidence rising, sea-sailing mastered... until we arrived at the windward mark in our usual spot. They say you find your level. We found ours.
Race three we nailed the committee-boat end — which was perfect, because the race was abandoned and we got the fastest route back to shore, dodging tsunami II on the way.
Two brilliant days on the water, loads of laughs with our Buddy and new silver-fleet friends, and proof that no matter where you are in the fleet, there's always someone to race. This newbie 400 team can't wait to see what Saturday brings - hopefully results improvement !!
RSCA note:
For those interested in the results, Martin Powell and Sean Murray, Parkstone YC lead the silver fleet, with a race win yesterday prompting rumours that they may be very soon promoted to gold fleet status. Thommie Grit and Finn Campbell from NBYC are lying in second, with the silver podium completed by home-club HISC sailors Anthony Park and Dom Hall.
Edd Whitehead and Ben Whaley lead overall, Mark Oakey and George Yeoman 2nd, Jon Gorring and Derek Hill 3rd.
Full results here