Horning Sailing Club annual Junior Regatta and OnBoard Festival

Horning Sailing Club's annual Junior Regatta and OnBoard Festival © Holly Hancock

An extremely wet start to Horning Sailing Club's annual Junior Regatta and OnBoard Festival on 12 September 2015 did not deter some 50 young people from coming to sail and celebrate the end of the year's training. Sailing in five fleets of varied abilities from the advanced squad sailors to those in their first few weeks of sailing in the OnBoard fleet, racing took place in Optimists, Teras, Toppers, Lasers, an Enterprise and a Splash.

The first race saw several boats over the line at the start, being caught out by the strong tide. However, they all recovered from this well to complete the race.

As the day progressed, the clouds quickly lifted to bring blue skies, sunshine and a freshening breeze. RYA sailing development office Holly Hancock said: "It was a true test of skill and perseverance dealing with the different conditions, and there were several capsizes during the afternoon. However, all went home happy and proud of their achievements, and it was a great opportunity for the volunteer instructors to reflect on the progress of the young sailors during the season."

Each fleet saw friendly competitiveness and close battles for the trophies. The Advanced Fleet resulted in extremely close racing between the Toppers of William Penny and Natalie Stiff, with only one second separating them in one race. Eventually three out of four wins was enough to secure William the trophy.

The Fast Handicap Fleet saw competitive racing between Lasers, the Enterprise and Splash. It was won by Edward Wildman sailing his Laser, having pulled out an impressive lead ahead of Kathryn Pettit sailing her Splash, and Joel Bailey & Sarah Clarke's Enterprise.

Jack Barnham won the Gold Topper Fleet despite tough competition from Thomas Wildman, Josh Palmer and Jack Copping, whilst the Silver Topper Fleet attracted some fourteen entrants, many taking part in their first Regatta. Kirsty Hyde did enough to win overall with two first places, ahead of James Pettit, with Molly Barnham also taking a win.

The OnBoard Fleet saw a mixture of Teras and Oppies compete in two flights, with many racing for the first time. First was Louis Parkerson sailing an Optimist, followed by Zaranne Newland sailing a Tera, and in third place Abigail Penny an Optimist.

The OnBoard Endeavour Award went to Elsie Martin in her first season of sailing, who completed every Optimist race despite the increasing winds. The Junior Regatta Endeavour Award went to Jamie Logsdon sailing her Topper in the Silver fleet, for completing every race and showing great determination despite numerous capsizes.

Ian Symonds, whose son William sailed his Laser in the Fast Handicap Fleet in his first year at Horning Sailing Club, commented: "It was an amazing day, extremely well organised, and wonderful to witness the youngsters having a great time."

Run by the RYA, OnBoard is a grass roots programme which introduces sailing and windsurfing to young people aged 8 to 18, through schools, youth groups and training centres.

Over a ten year period OnBoard has introduced more than 500,000 children to sailing and windsurfing in the UK, converting over 10% of them into regular participants.

For more information about how to get involved in sailing visit www.rya.org.uk/go/onboard

Horning Sailing Club is an RYA OnBoard Centre, an RYA Champion Club and has been a finalist for the RYA Club of the Year for the last two years. For more information visit www.horningsc.co.uk

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