The Hoad Shield Team Racing, sponsored by Hammond Drysuits
by Georgie Corlett-Pitt 7 May 2014 08:19 BST
3 May 2014
Hoad Shield - U18 winners - Sevenoaks A (Ed Haynes, Issy Gordon, Alice Kidd, Remi Pfister, George Haynes, Tancredi Pucci) © Georgie Corlett-Pitt
The Hoad Shield, hosted by Sevenoaks School at Bough Beech Sailing Club, Kent, saw 27 teams competing from 16 different schools. This one-day team racing competition is always the biggest regional event of its kind, and this year, generous support from locally-based Hammond Drysuits added extra incentive, with top prizes up for grabs.
Competition was split into two divisions with the U18 division sailing Fireflies (three-boat team racing) and U16s racing in Fevas (two-boat team racing).
Despite the forecast for no wind, the day started with promising breeze, although conditions proved difficult as the day went on, with the wind shifting through 180 degrees at times. However, tight race management enabled both divisions to complete leagues and go into play-offs.
In the U16 Feva fleet, the semi-finals saw the Royal Hospital School A team use all their experience to defeat their B team, despite the B team having previously taken wins from the As in the league! Meanwhile, Sevenoaks A won 2:0 over Winchester.
In the best-of-three finals, the home team, Sevenoaks A sailed well, but it wasn't enough to overcome to a very strong Royal Hospital School team (Dan Patten, Arthur Brown, Ashley Fretwell, Tom Joice) who emerged as the victors.
In the U18 Firefly fleet, play-offs between the top six teams led to the final match between the home senior team and Royal Hospital Schools' senior team, who went head-to-head in a repeat of the final from the previous weekend's event hosted by Kings School, Canterbury.
In the dying breeze, Sevenoaks A (Ed Haynes, Issy Gordon, Alice Kidd, Remi Pfister, George Haynes, Tancredi Pucci) sailed with cool heads in the dying breeze to seal a 2-0 victory, which meant they finished the event undefeated.
Prizes were kindly provided by event sponsors, Hammond Drysuits, who also offered a drysuit repair drop-off service during the event.
Top Results:
U18s
1st Sevenoaks A; (Ed Haynes, Issy Gordon, Alice Kidd, Remi Pfister, George Haynes, Tancredi Pucci)
2nd Royal Hospital School
3rd Norwich
4th Eton
5th Kings A
6th Sevenoaks B
U16s
1st RHS A; (Dan Patten, Arthur Brown, Ashley Fretwell, Tom Joice)
2nd Sevenoaks A