RYA North West Junior Travellers at Redesmere Sailing Club

RYA North West Junior Travellers at Redesmere © Peter Baldwin

RYA North West Junior Travellers at Redesmere © Peter Baldwin

Eleven home boats were joined by 22 visitors for round 8 of the RYA North West Junior Traveller series at Redesmere. As the sailors arrived, there was a light WSW breeze blowing across the mere with occasional rain showers.

The first race got under-way shortly after 11:00 in only 4 or 5 knots with occasional gusts of 8 knots from numerous directions keeping both the sailors and race officer on their toes. All fleets were away first time with an individual recall in one start but all boats returning.

In the Youth fleet of 5 Laser Radials, Gareth Staples-Jones took an early lead which held through until the end pulling out a full 4 minutes on Anya Haji-Michael in second place.

In the handicap fleet, the Graduate of Ben and Gabe Hill, took an early lead and had even managed to catch up with three of the Youth fleet Lasers by the end of lap2, but could not hold off the challenge of the Toppers sailed by Sam Cooper and Steph Wingeatt on corrected time, who took first and second place, with Hill's Graduate taking third place. The Optimist fleet had a very close race with Sian Talbot taking line honours, closely followed by Harvey Leigh and the Lewis Coop in third.

Everyone watched the wind increase whilst having lunch and wondering if this would last for the start of Race 2. There was no need to worry as the wind had steadied to 8 knots and gusts of 12 or more and swung to a mostly westerly direction. This required a change in position for the committee boat and a new course.

Again all starts got away first time, with Staples-Jones leading the Youth fleet on the first lap, followed by Matthew Haji-Michael and Will Rushforth. However, Anya gradually pulled through the fleet negotiating the wind shifts and pressure to take third place after two laps and second after three. By the end, Anya had won first place with Staples-Jones in second and Matthew Haji-Michael in third.

The initial leaders of Race 2 for the Handicap fleet were the Radial of Holly Jones and Graduate of Hill, closely followed by Wingeatt in her Topper. However, the leaders were confused over the third mark of the course, which let Wingeatt through to lead after one lap, followed by Jones and the Topper of Jack Staniland. Hill managed to work his way through the fleet and lead by lap 3, but by the end the Toppers of Wingeatt and Cooper were close enough to take first and second and Hill had to be satisfied with third place again.

By the end of their first lap, the Optimists of Leigh, Talbot and Coop were in amongst the back of the handicap fleet, so it was difficult for them to get clear air and establish anything like a commanding lead. The leaders had few place changes during the race and by the finish, Leigh took the win, followed closely by Talbot and Coop.

The third race was held back-to-back with race 2 and in a similar breeze, although with some stronger gusts it caught out and capsized a few sailors. In the Youth fleet, Staples-Jones led the fleet again for three of the 5 laps, pursued by Michael Platt and Anya Haji-Michael. On lap4, Anya managed to overtake both Platt and Staples-Jones, but lost the lead again by the finish to Staples-Jones, with Platt not far behind in third. The win by Staples-Jones ensured his win overall with Anya Haji-Michael in second and Platt in third.

Wingeatt led the handicap fleet race for two laps, with the Toppers of Lorcan Knowles and Rebecca Barry in second and third, whilst Hill had to work his way through the fleet having returned after being OCS at the start. By the finish, Wingeatt had a good lead with Knowles second and Cooper coming through to take third and Hill having to settle for fourth. This win ensured an overall event win for Wingeatt, with Cooper in second and first U14. The second place for Knowles in race3 gave him third overall (and second U14) on count-back over Hill in fourth.

Once again Leigh led the Optimist fleet in Race 3, with Talbot and Coop following in second and third places. By the finish, these positions remained, although Talbot had valiantly closed the gap on Leigh to less than 10 seconds. This gave overall positions of Leigh in first, Talbot second and Coop third.

Further details on the series and overall results can be found at www.nwjtt.co.uk