Tidal Championship at Hayling Island 2003

The three day event started with the cruise, incorporating seamanship skills and the fleet managed to get up to Itchenor. The weather was a pleasant sunny day with light winds.

A full day's events were held on day two, with fair winds but the midday high tide proved testing for first time tidal sailors. In the first fast fleet handicap the Graduate of Russell & Dawes got up to beat the RS Feva sailed by the Maxfield brothers but reversed the positions in race two. The Slow fleet handicap, Piers Parfitt and Dicken Maclean finished first and second in both races. In the Novice event, restricted to sailors who had not won an event, helms swapped with crews in the two-handed boats, but it was the Topper sailors, Dicken Maclean and Nick Arnold who finished first and second.

On day three, heavy rain and no wind meant the cancellation of morning racing. An early lunch was organised and a combined handicap and class race was scheduled over three long laps. Falling wind against the outgoing tide caused this to be shortened to two laps. Seven Enterprises contested their class and Stypulkowski & Cardew-Smith of Therfield beat their rivals by seven minutes. The 13 boats in the Topper class finished with Eversfield beating Maclean by eleven seconds.

This being the culmination of the Schools sailing year, annual awards as well as the regatta prizes were presented. Posters donated by Ellen MacArthur through Offshore Challenges were awarded to Rachel King (Therfield) and Thomas Creedy (RGS) for personal sailing development.