There was a sigh of relief from Lt Cdr Dan Vincent a the end of the 2004 Solo Nationals sailing championships in Plymouth Sound – relief that the conditions had allowed him to put in a winning performance.

With none of the previous holders of the title able to compete this year, a new name was guaranteed on the cup by the end of the championships.

Service commitments meant Stu Dando and Lt Cdr Vincent were the only Royal Navy representatives, and the latter went into the contest with mixed feelings.

“Before the championships I think it is fair to say that I felt like Ian Percy prior to the Olympic regatta at Athens – if the wind was reasonably strong then I had a chance of winning, but if it was consistently weak, then all bets would be off,” said Dan, who is based at Abbey Wood.

The first day opened with Force 3 wind conditions and after a poor start, Dan worked his way up into fourth place.

Day two proved to be the officer’s strongest showing – ending in two race victories, with Dan on top of the leaderboard – but also glancing anxiously at the weather forecast as the wind was tailing off ominously.

A strong challenge came from his brother Rob, whose ‘cavalier approach’ to races brought him two victories, while light-wind experts such as Paul Childs were also snapping at the officer’s heels; he, meanwhile, adopted the ‘steady Eddie’ tactic to hold on to top spot overall, consistently finishing in the first five.

In the final race of the competition, nearest challenger Chris Goldhawk had to win and Dan finish no higher than fifth – a tall order.

Goldhawk could only finish in fourth, while Dan struggled to eighth place... and heaved that sigh of relief as he sailed back to the slipway as national champion.

Dan’s brother Rob took ninth place, while Stu Dando was 60th.

Meanwhile, in the Solent there was victory – 25 years after his first attempt – for Cdr Richard Spalding, as he lifted the Gold Cup Joint Service Keelboat Sailing Trophy.

Cdr Spalding (MOD London), aided by Dave Ward (Sultan) and Tim Scarisbrick (Culdrose), had to fight every inch of the way against tough competition to beat 16 crews from across the three Services.

Further afield, Lake Garda in the Italian Alps was the setting as a 20-strong Royal Navy/Royal Marines team competed in the 2004 RS Eurocup Championships – an event open to all boats designed for the RS Class.

After excellent weather for the first round of the 200s, MID Hamish Walker and Dave Steed set the standard for the Navy competitors, crossing the line in second place provisionally, with strong standings by C/Sgt Grahame Forshaw/Lt Cdr Roger Saynor in third place and Lt Gavin Marshall and Chris Johnson in fourth.

The sailors were confronted with 20-25 knots of wind on a choppy surface on day two, and many boats took the decision not to venture out on the water.

But fortune favoured the brave – in this case Walker and Steed, who battled with the elements and other competitors to come fourth in the second round – joint first overall.

For the 400 fleet, racing in such conditions was particularly hard work. Marshall showed some fantastic downwind skills, while Forshaw was unlucky to put his boat in on a final gybe when in fifth place.

Marshall improved on his first-round performance in the second race, crossing the line in fourth to take sixth position overall, while CPO Glyn Deakin ended in eleventh place overall, despite breaking his tiller on the second race.

Results:

RS 200: 1 – MID Hamish Walker (Southampton URNU)/Dave Steed

RS 400: 6 – Lt Gavin Marshall (St Albans)/Chris Johnson; 7 – C/Sgt Grahame Forshaw (DNPTS)/Lt Cdr Roger Saynor (CINCFLEET); 11 – CPO Glyn Deakin (MASU)/Lt Giles Hadland (HMS Kent); 13 – Cdr Wayne Shirley (RNAS Yeovilton)/Jason Shirley; 14 – S/Lts Andy Thomas/Mark Davies (both Southampton URNU); 15 – S/Lt Ben Shirley/MID Ian Le Poidevin (both Southampton URNU)