Cadet Class Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Peter Collyer 27 Sep 2014 16:47 BST
20-21 September 2014
Lainey and Cally Terkelsen are the Cadet Class Inland Champions 2014 after winning a hard-fought contest that went right down to the final race.
The Cadet Class converged on Grafham Water SC on the 20th/21st September for their last major event of the year having only had a month to recover from the excitement of the Worlds back in August. Thoughts of the new school term were to put to one side for a weekend of intense racing that established the new order following the retirement from the class of many of older sailors at the end of the summer.
On the Saturday a light Northerly breeze gave the many new partnerships a chance to settle and at the same time provided a tactical challenge for the more experienced pairings. An eager fleet all jumped the gun at the first attempt at starting Race 1, and the subsequent black flag was met with another general recall and the disqualification of seven boats. Most remembered their manners at the third start, although the black flag claimed a further three casualties. At the top of the first beat 8553 Hattie Collingridge/Daisy Nunn (Waldringfield SC) already had a healthy lead, with 8352 Lainey/Cally Terkelsen (Stone SC), 9369 Harry/Faye Chatterton (Waldringfield) and 7630 Harry Fitzsimmons/Sam Woodhouse (Royal Lymington/Frensham Pond SC) all rounding close together behind them. Hattie was helming for the first time at a major event and clearly showed the value of her experience as a GBR World Team crew, pulling away from the fleet up the second beat. In the battle for the other podium places the front group were joined by 8846 Tom Collyer/Cara Bland (Aldenham SC/Waldringfield) who showed great downwind speed to be level with Lainey and Cally at the bottom of the first run. Here Hattie and Daisy were unfortunate to miss the shortened course signal and as they mistakenly continued up the beat for a third time it was Tom and Cara who crossed the line to take the win, with 8541 Ed Harris/Anna Wootton (Waldringfield) 2nd and the Terkelsens 3rd.
The start of Race 2 brought another general recall, another black flag and further 3 boats added to the list of disqualifications, one of which was a repeat offender from Race 1. By the time the fleet reached the top of the course Lainey and Cally Terkelsen had established a good lead while a battle was developing for the other places between 8852 Archie Penn/Hazel Whittle (Waldringfield), 9963 Aliya/Aqil Jannaty (South Cerney SC), 8845 Megan Ferguson/Yasmin Sfaxi (Frensham Pond) and 9083 Scarlet Anderson/Amy Shepherd (Corinthian Otters). By the last lap this group had been joined by Harry/Sam, and as Lainey and Cally took the win Harry and Sam sailed a perfect last run to steal 2nd place from Aliya and Aqil, with Archie and Hazel 4th.
Race 3 again saw Lainey and Cally quickly establish a big lead and it was 8561 Alex/James Colquitt (West Kirby SC) and 9384 Emily/Rebecca Mitchell (Waldringfield) who completed the top three at the windward mark. As the race progressed Lainey and Cally stayed clear while victors from Race 1 Tom and Cara steadily moved through the top ten and were also clear of the fleet in 2nd place at the final windward mark. Tom and Cara gained on Lainey and Cally all the way to the finish but the Terkeslen's lead was unassailable by this point. The Colquitts finished 3rd, a great recovery after their black flags in the first two races. The day's score of 3,1,1 made Lainey and Cally overnight leaders with Ed and Anna close behind with a consistent 2, 5, 6 and Tom and Car 3rd and hoping to get the chance to discard their 12th place from Race 2 when racing resumed on the Sunday.
Race 4 on the second day was also the Cadet's Bart's Bash race, so the fleet were joined on the water by a large club fleet sailing on a separate course. The Cadets got away first time and drama ensued immediately as the Terkelsens tangled with a 'Fun Cat' that had strayed on to the course. Lainey and Cally capsized and by the time they recovered the fleet was away. Having fought hard to catch up they remained in the 30s for the rest of the race. At the front a great battle was developing between Megan/Yasmin, 9964 Lucy Corby/Ollie Payne (King George/Stone SC)and 8542 Joe barr/Jamie Rashbrook (Corinthian Otters) with Scarlet/Amy, the Colquitts and Tom/Cara also in close attendance. Approaching the leeward gate before the final beat Megan and Yasmin seemed to have a race-winning lead from Lucy and Ollie, but Tom and Cara rounded 4th and then split from the others, finding a better route back to the windward mark which they round with a big lead. As they crossed the line to claim the Cadet Bart's Bash trophy Scarlet and Amy rounded the final mark inside Lucy and Ollie to take second.
Now leading the series, it was Tom and Cara's turn to get buried in the fleet in Race 5, a poor first beat relegating them to the 20s where they stayed until the end of the race. At the front new names appeared with 9635 Louis Mellor and new crew Antonia Wilkinson rounding 1st from 8291 Jamie/Lily Tointon with Lainey/Cally clearly recovered from their problems in Race 4 to be fighting for a top position again. Jamie and Lily looked in total command as they increased their lead through spot-on tactics upwind and good speed downwind and they ran out comfortable winners. Lainey and Cally finished 2nd, and with the discard kicking in and cancelling out there score from Race 4 they moved back to the top of the leaderboard. Lucy and Ollie were 3rd again with Archie and Hazel getting another 4th to add to the one they got in Race 2.
After lunch ashore (an excellent hog-roast – thank you Grafham Water SC!) the fleet headed out for the final race with the final positions still wide open. Notably every boat in the top 5 had a high discard except for Ed and Anna, whose consistency had put them in 3rd place and afforded them the luxury of a risk or two in Race 6. Sure enough they tacked off to the right straight after the start, a move that paid off brilliantly and which saw them round the first mark with an enormous lead that put pressure on the other title contenders. Lucy and Ollie held onto 2nd for much of the race with the Colquitts in 3rd, while behind these the battle for the championship was being played out between Lainey/Cally and Tom/Cara, with Tom/Cara needing to put 7 boats between them and the Terkelsens to take the title. At the finish Ed and Anna took an emphatic win with Alex and James Colquitt coming through to 2nd and Lucy/Ollie taking their third 3rd of the day. Tom/Cara pulled through to 4th but Lainey and Cally finished 9th, a position that was good enough to make them Inland Champions for 2014. Full results at www.cadetclass.org.uk/sitedata/Results/Inlands_2014.pdf
Photos of the event can be seem at proofing.sailingphotos.co/event/834606/view
In the Bronze Fleet Rosie Targett made a great helming debut, following her summer crewing for Louis Mellor in the Worlds team. Sailing with Rebecca Videlo she won all but one race to take the overall by 8 points from Ellie Watling (another World team crew) and her sister Jessica, with Eve Turnpenny and Amy Allen 3rd.
While the big events are over for the Cadet Class there is still plenty of great sailing to look forward to in 2014. Fisher's Green and Barnt Green Sailing Clubs will both be hosting open meetings in October before the winter squad training programme begins in November. With growing fleets around the country there has never been a better time to start Cadet sailing! Find out more at www.cadetclass.org.uk/join.