THE AGONY & THE ECSTASY

Scott Harrison gives us the full rundown from the second round of the British Slalom Championships, which took place at Lee-on-the-Solent on the penultimate weekend of June.

- Scott Harrison

Hopes were running high the week prior to the second event of the British Slalom Championships, which was held at Lee-on-the-Solent, near Portsmouth. The forecast looked promising with west-northwesterly winds being predicted for the event, which would provide the ideal setup for the reliable sea breezes, at this time of year, to kick in on the Saturday at the very least. The venue has been a favourite for years now as Lee boasts a huge grassy rigging and parking area with great facilities, while there are several pubs nearby as well as a super friendly sailing club. For those who had an excess of energy, there was even a Saturday morning park run taking place between the event field and the water's edge.

Heading into the event, we'd only been able to compete on foils in the season opener in Portland, which saw James Faley, Tim Bate, Dylan Chick, Beau Handley and Rafferty Read claim respective victories. The event dates, which were pencilled in for the penultimate weekend of June, unfortunately meant that a fair chunk of our top guns would be absent, cither due to international commitments, or training, which was a shame, but it did mean that it would open up the playing field, so to speak.