After a last minute crew change due to illness James, Jo and Miles headed down to Weymouth to compete in BUCS Match Racing. After an overnight stop at Miles’ parents in Winchester and a quick hour in the boat on Friday to familiarise ourselves we were chucked into the racing.

We had a good first day with Weybizia living up to its name with sun and 10 knots and two wins out of five. We were only win away from automatic qualification to the quarter-finals and given that the crew had never competively match raced before, we were pretty happy with the day. The second day brought the repercharge and very light winds in Weymouth Harbour. Unfortunately, Edinburgh lost the first race of the day as Birmingham got the better of us in the pre-start. However, we bounced back with two wins against Swansea and Cambridge which meant it was looking like it would come down to a straight shoot-out between St Andrews and ourselves to see who would get the last quarter-final spot. Unfortunately, the wind was less keen on this idea and the repercharge was cut short meaning we were left to race against Strath to see who would get 11^th.

The wind was back on day 3 and after a good start Edinburgh lead around the top mark. However, a bit of a dodgy kite drop meant Edinburgh were not in control up the second beat and Miles decided to see whether he could push the rules to max. Our dial down to around 150 degrees (only 90 is allowed) was deemed illegal and our resulting spins led us to giving the lead to Strath. Sadly they held on to win the race and leave us in 12^th position. Not a bad result for an inexperienced crew and our first time in the competition and we will back next year hoping to improve on our result.

After what can only be described as a hectic week for the eight members of our yachting team trying to organise their lives to miss a week of uni we were all in a bus headed down to Portsmouth. Once Suzy managed to differenciate the accelerator from the brake we miraculously all made it down south in one piece. After the super kind hospitality of Suzy’s parents on the Friday night we were ready to start the practise racing on the Saturday.

All things considered (we turned off our engine and unfurled the jib with 45 seconds to the start) we had pretty good start to the first race and an interesting pile up at the first windward mark, which somehow we came out of only with a broken dam buoy, left us in third where we finished the first race. Another couple of races occurred which gave us all a chance to familiarise/ learn the boat but we lacked boat speed in the light airs, arguably down to the extra 500kgs of water which we were carrying on board.

After a late night down at Hayling Island Sailing Club, combined with the clocks going forward, a groggy EUSC woke up on the Sunday morning with Dad (Archie) threating to leave us behind if we didn’t hurry up – a theme for the week. We had another couple of practise races in light and shifty airs until the commodore managed to knock himself out with the spinnaker pole prompting a short diversion to Cowes in order to drop him off at the hospital. After a CT scan to check his brain was still there the team regrouped to find ourselves in four protest hearings having raced five races. After some clarification of the rules to some of the other boats we were happy to find all four dismissed and find ourself fifth in the practise series overall. Not our best result but we were confident we more to give.

The first day of BUCS dawned and with 24 university teams on the start line and the sun making one of two appearances for the week we were ready to go. The first start was interesting with two boats coming down on top of us when they had no room but we escaped unscathed but buried deep in the fleet. We struggled to sail our way out in very light and puffy breeze and finished the race in tenth. We had a better race in the second windward leeward of the day coming fifth and then finally managed to get a good start away in the first coastal race where we managed to post a second and only narrowly missing out on first. With the results posted it seemed that almost everyone had struggled to stay consistent in the light airs and it left us first after day 1.

On the second day there was another W/L and Edinburgh had a good start and first lap going into the final windward mark in 2^nd. After a tense run we crossed the line in 4^th after a luffing battle with Solent. Then came the second offshore race and Edinburgh rounded the first mark in around 12^th with a tight reach to be followed by a run. The race started off in 15 knots but the wind shut off as the first boats reached the second mark. We boldly chose to stay in the breeze and sail practically away from the mark. Being the most windward boat paid off and we rounded the last mark ahead of all but one boat. Unfortunately, although we were gaining on first up the final beat we ran out of water and settled for an impressive second which left us still at the top of the overall leader board.

The final day of the qualifying series started in a light and shifty breeze with all the top crews struggling on the first race and Edinburgh scoring a 17. Luckily our next race was better recording a 4^th and we were leading up the final beat of the last race when our main halyard snapped. Luckily with some quick thinking and a spare spinnaker halyard we managed to recover and recorded a 5^th leaving us in third going into the final three race shoot-out.

The final day gave us a blustery 20 knots and eight teams left to compete for the top places in the championship fleet. EUSC started with a cracking race; sailing through the fleet and snatching a bullet on the line from Strath and Solent. The second race gave us a 4^th and unfortunately an unplanned man-overboard drill. However, with all 8 crew back on board we raced in the final race of the regatta; however, a third wasn’t enough to overhaul Solent or Exeter who had both raced really well over the week. It was however enough for us to finally beat Strath and be the top female helm and gain us qualification for SYWOC (World Championships) in the autumn.

Without doubt it was a great week and effort by all. Special thanks has to go to Suzy Peter’s family for hosting us in Hayling Island for the whole week.

On Saturday morning four sailors with cracking hangovers and Iain piled into a car and headed down to Port Edgar to try and defend Edinburgh’s title as Scottish Yachting Champions. As predicted, and like the previous three years, as a team we hadn’t sailed together until the first race, always a strong tactic for being fast. The weather was typical for Scottish spring – 25 knots and snow. This made laying the course tricky and as result the run ended up being a 45 second battle to get the kite up and set for all of ten seconds, gybe and then drop. Edinburgh managed to successful complete this task twice in the first race securing a bullet; however, this was not to last.

Next race Strathclyde entered the racing in the most matched of all the really matched boats that Port Edgar had to offer and took four bullets and a third for the rest of the day. Edinburgh didn’t have the best start and in racing that was so short it was tricky to sail through the fleet. The rest of the day proceeded with a mixture of 2nds and 3rds and left us in 3^rd overnight. The race committee then decided that the sideways snow was enough to cause a premature end to the day.

Having decided that the hangovers had really boosted our performance on the Saturday three members of the team decided to hit Prow until close and did not follow Ross and Iain home at around 11:30. Sunday morning was not fun and in typical Scottish fashion of all or nothing we were left waiting for the wind to fill in. Unfortunately, it never came and at 2:00 the racing was abandoned leaving Strathclyde in 1^st, Glasgow in 2^nd and Edinburgh in 3^rd. Overall it was a great weekend if not the most successful racing but revenge was to be had at BUCS down south.

Last weekend, ladies from all across the land, as far off as Exeter and Cardiff, gathered in Glasgow for the ever popular Ladies Championships. An earlier great performance by the Edinburgh team at SSS ladies championships, coming 3^rd overall, meant that 3 of the Edinburgh girls having been asked to join the SSS Rep team for the weekend, and so the Edinburgh team travelled with a few new additions to Glasgow in anticipation of a great weekend of racing.

The weekend started well, after a short postponement waiting for the wind to fill in, racing got underway. The first two races didn’t go Edinburgh’s way with a loss against Exeter and Oxford Blue, but after their fingers had finally thawed out, races started to turn their way. They ended Saturday lying 6^th overall, with 6/10 race wins including one against the SSS Rep team. With such haste to prepare for the Ceilidh they managed to leave Loch Ore without keys and so the evening instead consisted of a 2 hours of sitting in a cold, slightly creepy corridor and a very hurried dinner before dancing the night away….or breaking themselves (Tilly :’( )

Dawn break on Sunday to a scene of magical beauty, with Tilly healed overnight, and results being fixed, Edinburgh had a fully functioning team AND had made it into the gold fleet! After another wait for the wind to fill (and the ice to melt) racing was on its way again. De ja vu hit the team strongly, with the first race once again against Exeter and once again in Edinburgh boats, but this time the outcome a little different…a win for Edinburgh!! (No matter how mucht they protested) (sorry Exe). However, the rest of the day didn’t fall into Edinburgh’s favour with top teams and stiff competition they were left joint 4^th on race wins, falling 6^th on points and so narrowly missed out on a place in the semi’s.

The teams had a great weekend, with lots of lessons learnt and fun had. Thanks go to Strathcylde and Glasgow for organising and hosting.