JERSEY’s teams had to contend with tough conditions on the opening day of racing at the Hobie Dragoon World Championships in South Africa.

Ten-year-old Lily Carter and her father David were in the first fleet out on the Langebaan lagoon and had to contend with winds of 12 to 15 knots, which they did to finish third.

Laurence Carter (12) and crew Hannah Voak (14) were in the second race but faced problems which led to a capsize and they didn’t finish. However, they weren’t alone, with a third of the fleet failing to complete the race.

Following this, the organisers cancelled the day’s racing as the wind had increased to 28 knots over the course.

David Carter said: ‘Conditions are generally tough and we could have further problems, but I heard that Wednesday is going to be better.

‘Lily and I are sailing in the open class and the conditions were such that I had to help her quite a lot – two people of Lily’s age would have struggled. Laurence and Hannah are both young enough to compete in the juniors and they will be allowed to discard one result, so hopefully that will be it.’

The team had previously attended the opening ceremony at the Langebaan Yacht Club and had to prepare the boats for competition. ‘The ceremony was great and they really put on a good show with an air display and all the flags of the competing nations being delivered by boat up the lagoon,’ said David.

‘There was also a mixing of waters, similar to the Island Games, so we added the Jersey water which David Voak had collected at low tide.

‘Inevitably, we had a pretty hectic first day getting the boats sorted out and rigged on the practice day, but we did get out on the water, even though it was quite late in the day.’