Last weekend, three Wessex teams crossed the border to compete at the renowned Welsh Dragon in Cardiff. We arrived on the Friday night and after a quick stop at Lidl, the first social was underway, hitting the private d-floor at Retros and greeted by some rowdy Wessex Alumni. After a rough night’s sleep on one kitchen floor for eighteen sailors; we awoke tired, hungover but ready for the day ahead…
The Bay greeted us with a classic Welsh drizzle and extremely gusty wind. After a strangely long course was set, racing started as gusts broke into the 20s. Many struggled to keep the mast pointing upwards, with Maddy and Matt managing to stack it in one of their first gybes. Nevertheless, Tommy & Pete still managed to secure the 1,2 to begin a streak of 6 wins from 6 for Wessex Red seeing qualify into gold fleet for Sunday. A solid day could also be said for the other two Wessex teams with both Wessex white and black winning 4/6 to put them both in Silver.
A long hard day called for a quick nap before we kicked off Saturday’s social in 80s & babies attire and a BYOB & Dinner at the Vulcan. The usual antics followed; with sausages and chicken seen flying across the room, fresher’s being raised to the ceiling and fan favourite, Baywatch. However, we were quick to leave following some questionable comments from the creepy old DJ in the corner. We finished the night strong at the famous Cardiff SU, which delivered as always.
Sunday, we arrived to no wind. Racing was quickly postponed allowing a little recovery time from our adventurous nights out. A few hours passed, people began changing out from their wetsuits and shockingly 3 silly freshers decided a swimming race would be a good idea. Cardiff Bay does not boast high water quality, so we imagine they are all now regretting it after a rough Monday morning spent clutching the loo. In a last bid for more racing, they sent us out and, to their luck, the wind did fill in. 3 races a team in a steady 6-7knots of wind. Wessex white and black sailed well to finish 2nd and 5th in Silver respectively. Wessex red had a tough day, racing two very experienced alumni teams, one of which was our very own Wessex Alumni. However, in the end after a well-deserved win against Bath, they clinched 3rd overall and first University team! It would have been nice to do a few more races however we all had a fantastic weekend and would like to say a huge thank you to Cardiff for organising the event. We will definitely be heading back next year!
