Wayfarer International Championships 2010 saw a record one hundred and seven Wayfarers show for this event, which are held every three years and cycle between the USA, Canada, the UK and Ireland - and Denmark, where the last event was held in 2007. This year's event was held at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy and incorporated the UK National Championships. The class has seen a huge surge in interest following the launch two years ago of the Wayfarer Mark IV.

This brings the classic design bang up to date in terms of contemporary design, build quality, performance and features. Forty-five of these Hartley-produced boats attended; some helms having moved over from their classic 'woodies' and the rest of the Mark IVs bringing new blood to the fleet.

Sunday was Practice Race day which also incorporated practice starts and boat tuning sessions. The Practice Race was held in Weymouth Bay in a glorious force four south-westerly with sunny conditions and waves to match.

Weather conditions for the week were governed by a weak and slow moving low-pressure area over England and Wales - torrential rain and thunderstorms were forecast with light southerly breezes. As it happened, the rain passed us by and warm, sunny conditions prevailed.

South-westerlies at Portland are beneficial as they are reinforced by any sea breeze, indeed this effect seemed to be strongest within the harbour itself. This gave the race officer the option of an alternative sailing area should the wind become fickle in Weymouth Bay - the preferred racing area – while at the same time getting the fleet most of the way home.

The bay sailing area meant a three to four mile run down from the WPNSA along the beautiful Purbeck coast to the start line. This distance was needed by the time bunkering tankers and other constraints came into play, while at the same time giving us more exposure to longer and more interesting wave patterns.

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