RYA Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing Championships
by Matt Carter, RYA 21 Oct 2013 18:48 BST
19-20 October 2013
It was two teams from the South Coast who waked away basking in winners glory this weekend (19-20 October) as 'Team Oracle' and the 'Flying Spinnakers' were crowned 2013 RYA Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing champions in the Youth and Junior events.
The world's biggest team racing event which was staged at Oxford Sailing Club, Farmoor Reservoir, welcomed a southerly 10-12 knots on the opening day of the regatta allowing for the 24 Junior (under 16) teams to complete a 120 races while the 26 Youth (under 19) teams competing raced 130 in their quest for championships honours.
Racing kicked off on Sunday on time with the Junior sailors competing in the RS Feva taking to the water with cut down sails due to the breezy forecast. After completing the full schedule of stage one of the round robin the teams were split into gold and silver fleets, however, with the wind increasing throughout the day all racing was eventually abandoned at 14:45 therefore resulting in the final standings from the round robin stages.
In the Junior competition, contested in RS Fevas, the 'Flying Spinnakers', who consisted of a select number of sailors from 2012 champions 'Not the Spinnaker Team', clinched four race wins from the five races completed to take event victory ahead of 'Sailing Sisters'. Both teams finished level on points with four wins each, but 'Flying Spinnakers' victory over their nearest rivals in race one was crucial in them claiming the 2013 RYA Eric Twiname Junior Team Racing Championship title.
In the Youth event, sailed in Fireflies, 'Team Oracle' stole the show by dominating proceedings from the word go. The South Coast based team, compromising RYA 420 UK Youth Squad sailors which included two RYA Volvo Team GBR 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds representatives, won all six races in impressive style to take overall event victory. 'Oakham Red' finished second while 'Morgan Eric PEACH and his followers' were third.
David Campbell James, RYA Eric Twiname Team Racing Event Director, said: "The event began better than anyone could have expected on Saturday with the most amount of races completed than ever before by that stage of the regatta. The event team did a great job at keeping the racing going all day with great sailing conditions for both the youth and junior teams to contest in on the opening day.
"Even though Sunday didn't quite play ball and we had to cancel the racing early on, the amount of racing completed on Saturday allowed for some fun and competitive racing to take place across both events resulting in two team to be crowned champions. A massive congratulations must go to the 'Flying Spinnakers' which was made up of a few of last year's champions, and to 'Team Oracle' who won all six races in impressive style to take the championships title in the Youth event."
Campbell James continued: "We're very grateful for the continued support of the Eric Twiname Trust and Oxford Sailing Club in the staging of this event, plus all the volunteers whom without them we would not be able to make this event a year on year success."
Junior results:
1st: Flying Spinnakers
2nd: Sailing Sisters
3rd: Team Heathcote
Youth results:
1st: Team Oracle
2nd: Oakham Red
3rd: Morgan Eric PEACH and his followers
For further information and for the full list of results please visit www.ryaracingevents.org.uk