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August 10, 2025 2 min read
Three Years, Countless Hours, and Finally… RS400 National Champions!
For the past three years, the RS400 Nationals has been the goal. We’ve spent countless hours travelling, racing, and training — and after losing the title on the very last day for two years running, we were absolutely determined to bring the trophy home this time.
The entry list wasn’t huge, but the quality was fierce: current and former Olympians, plus the Irish Helmsman Champions (their equivalent of our Endeavour). It was going to be a seriously tough fleet.
Storm Floris rolled in with over 50 knots recorded on the weather station.
Unsailable, to say the least.
Another windy day kept us under AP until 2pm. We finally got the first race in and were 3rd on the water - only to discover we were OCS by the tiniest of margins once we came ashore.
Not exactly the start we’d dreamed of, using a discard on race 1.
Wednesday brought a complete change — light winds in the morning that built through the day.
The race committee pushed through four races (a first for any Nationals I’ve been in!).
Downwind, we had an extra gear compared to the fleet, taking four bullets in a row. It was exactly what we needed after day two’s setback and it catapulted us into the lead with a solid points gap.
It looked light when we launched, we got our hopes up for a repeat of Wednesday, but by the time we reached the course, it was anything but.
Three races in strong winds left the legs broken. Bob and Mikey, carrying just a bit more weight (1 or 2kg… maybe 20kg!), had the jump on the fleet upwind, enough that we couldn’t catch them downwind.
We came away with a 4, 2, 2 — enough to hang onto the overall lead by two points.
The forecast promised another big-breeze day, and all week the wind had been stronger than predicted.
Sure enough, by the time we were meant to launch the ribs were struggling in steep chop as the breeze built.
The AP went up in hopes that it would settle, but instead the breeze built to 37 knots with two-metre waves.
After almost three tense hours of waiting, the call came: no racing. We’d done it. Finally. RS400 National Champions!
There were tears — pure relief and joy after years of hard work — and then, of course, a night of celebrations in Belfast.
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Great product, safely packaged, delivered on time, at a competitive price. One more thing - the person on the end of the phone is an actual person, informative, helpful, knowledgeable and pleasant. What more could you ask for.
The sales team were quick responding to our questions, dispatched to us promptly, and the product is a perfect replacement for our old tiller which ended up at the bottom of a lake!
It was time for me to upgrade to a newer Ilca and it was recommended that I get a Devoti. The price was competitive and the service from Andrew and his team was fantastic. I received lots of communication and the boat was delivered to me within 2 weeks. It is really great that Sailing Chandlery take the time to set up the rigging so that you can get straight on the water. I am very pleased with my new boat and am loving sailing it. Thank you Sailing Chandlery!
Ordered a dyneema RSAero halyard on the Thursday. It arrived by mid day on the Friday and was used on the Saturday. Excellent product and service. Thank you
Cover arrived after three days and is well made and completely covers the boat boom up . The straps and clips all work fine. Good product.
My local chandlery were unable to supply a white inspection hatch and so it was amatter of looking online. Sailing Chandlery had the cover I needed in stock at a good price and delivery. I had never used them before but the service I received was excellent with the delivery on time and the hatch is now fitted.
I will definitely return, especially with the discounts on offer. Thank you Sailing Chandlery!
Always happy with my orders from Sailing Chandlery. They are quick to post and very helpful when I have had a question.
Jason delivered the boat on time at Hayling Island Sailing Club. The boat was new and all the spars were in perfect condition. Jason came to pick up the boat and return the deposit which I gave at the time of the delivery. Every interaction with Andrew and Jason were handled very professionally. I will recommend to any sailor Sailing Chandlery in the future. I really appreciated how easy it was to charter this boat. Thank you very much. Jacques Kerrest
Prompt delivery, with helpful updates and time slot spot on. Perfect new sail at a great price and the number fixing service is well worth it. It even won its first race! Thank you.
I needed GBR letters for the ILCA Europeans and they arrived by the next post.
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Had the boom and mast in stock. Order processed quickly, great service and local so could pick them up. Friendly and helpful staff as always. Thank you
Delivered on time after chatting by phone to a very helpful person at Sailing chandlery. Absolutely no complaint with this Company and will continue to use them for my sailing needs.
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