Volvo Champion Club Trophy at Loch Venachar Sailing Club
by Claire Caffrey 20 Aug 2012 16:04 BST
18 August 2012
The Topper fleet start during the Volvo Champion Club Trophy at Loch Venachar © Claire Caffrey
Clyde Cruising Club (Dinghy Section) sailed to a championship win at the weekend (Saturday 18th) at Loch Venachar Sailing Club whilst competing for the Volvo Champion Club Trophy. Loch Tummel Sailing Club have held the trophy for the previous two years so the club were really pleased to have been able to challenge for the title and win!
Callum Cook was one of the sailors who put in a particularly strong performance to win the optimist class for the second year in a row. His sister then backed this up by finishing third in the novice optimist fleet to make it a successful day for the Cook family.
The Volvo Champion Club Trophy regatta is targeted at youngsters sailing at Volvo Champion Clubs throughout Scotland and offers the chance for them to come along to a different club and experience racing and competing away from their home club. The trophy is awarded to the best performing club to encourage a great team performance.
Matt Toynbee from RYA Scotland was organising the event with the help of Tony Fox who is the sailing secretary at Loch Venachar Sailing Club.
"We ran training in the morning for each fleet which were led by RYA Scotland coaches and then in the afternoon we had three short races. The junior classes made up the races with optimists, toppers and fevas taking to the course. There was also novice fleets in the optimist and topper classes for those who hadn't raced outside their home club before" said Matt.
"Many of the sailors had travelled a long way to take part in the championship with quite a few of them only having returned from an event at Pwllheli in Wales the previous day so it was great to see so many on the water enjoying themselves".
Although the weather conditions were a little damp and rainy first thing, it soon cleared up with sunshine and a light south westerly breeze. The breeze then increased for the racing in the afternoon giving the young sailors a chance to test themselves on the waters at Loch Venachar.
RYA Scotland would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Loch Venachar Sailing Club who helped make the event happen and also to all the young sailors and their families who came along to take part.
www.ryascotland.org.uk