The UAE Sailing Nationals in Abu Dhabi delivered another weekend of sweaty and shifting conditions, and the DOSC sailors rose to the occasion with one of their strongest collective showings to date. In the ILCA 4 fleet, which saw 27 boats on the starting line, Fynley Britton led the charge with impressive consistency across the series and secured a well-earned fifth place overall.
Just a few points behind, teammate Miya Giot finished eighth and was the second girl, climbing steadily with improving scores as the regatta progressed. DOSC’s depth in the class was evident, with ten sailors competing — one of the largest team representations in the fleet. Eva Hardie (11th), Chloe Montanet (14th), and Nick Denes (15th) all finished in the top half of the standings, while Max Woodrow, Ryan Campbell, Dominic West, Aaton Alhamadi, Can Kuruoglu and Flynn Martins Bradburry all battled hard in the challenging mid-fleet traffic, gaining valuable experience on the national stage.
In the ILCA 7 fleet, DOSC’s sole representative, Diego Bonaparte, put in a strong performance among a competitive mixed-age lineup. He finished seventh overall and first Grand Master.
In the Optimist fleet DOSC dominated the podium. In a fleet of 41 young sailors, Jean-Luc Herve sailed a near-flawless series, rarely finishing outside the top three and clinching the overall national title with style. Not far behind, teammate Kornelia Pajak took third place overall and first girl, securing another podium spot for the club. Edward West added further strength to the lead group by finishing fourth.
The next wave of DOSC sailors packed the top ten with Maria Vittoria in fifth, Alexander Wallentin in sixth (and first U12), followed closely by Konstancja Pajak in seventh and Ruby Holmes in eighth, Matteo De Smedt in tenth, and Luka Giot in 11th.
Three cadet sailors also joined the team for the first time, with Logan Holmes, Jasper Duffy and Niall Rogers reinforcing just how wide the DOSC junior squad now stretches across the national circuit. For DOSC, this regatta was more than a medal haul — it was proof of the club’s growing strength in depth across its academy and its commitment to the development of sailing in the UAE. A big thanks goes to the coaches for the weekend, Vasielia Karachaliou, Molly Hinslif-Smith and Mati getting his first experience of UAE racing, our brand new ILCA coach Mati Adaminas from Argentina.
Also thanks to SARF for their continual organisation of a national sailing series and our friends at the Abu Dhabi Marine Sports Club for hosting. We should also probably thank the bar staff at Hemingway’s at the Raddison Hotel!
The next stop for our young sailors will be the Optimist Asian Championships in Oman at the end of October, with Lucca Herve, Kornelia Pajak and Konstancja Pajak sailing for the UAE. Matteo De Smedt racing for Belgium, Luka Giot for Czechoslovakia and Ruby Holmes for Great Britain.
