Suffolk Schools Regatta 2017 at Alton Water Sports Centre
by Martin Pavey 8 Jul 2017 20:34 BST
29 June 2017
Suffolk Schools Regatta 2017 © Emer Berry
Once again this event was held at Alton Water, a reservoir on the Shotley Peninsula. The regatta brought together 200 young sailors from 16 different Suffolk schools and experience ranged from those who are just starting out on their racing career through to national squad members. For the inexperienced sailors, an 'OnBoard' regatta was run alongside the main race event to provide an introduction to racing.
This is a popular event that has built on the previous county council water sports involvement and is now run by a volunteer team supported by staff at Alton Water.
It was a fine day with a light w/sw breeze for this one-day four-race regatta and it was a busy time both ashore and afloat.
Two course were set along with a dedicated area for the 'OnBoarders' and with an early briefing all were out on the water for a 10 o'clock start on:
- Course A; an inner/outer loop arrangement for Fast, Laser and Topper
- Course B; a trapezoid for Fevas,Teras and Slow
...with OnBoard taking to the scenic west end of the reservoir.
Two races, a lunch break and then the final two races, with a single discard, was the plan and this was completed successfully, with all boats coming off the water at around 3pm in a falling breeze.
The highlight of the day for the race teams and sailors was that there were no general recalls (yes there were individuals identified –even the same one twice in one class)
53 boats raced on course A with the Fast and Lasers taking the outer loop and the Toppers having exclusive use of the inner loop. One point separated the first two in the Fast class and race wins were shared in the Laser and Topper fleets.
69 boats took to the water for Course B with a numerically superior Slow fleet of 34 boats that included 7 Cadets and 7 Optimists (perhaps separate starts for them in 2018?). The winners in the Slow and Feva showed their ability and consistency with four firsts each, while it was a little closer in the Teras with 6 points separating the first three boats!
Full results can be found on the Alton Water website here.
The OnBoarders were rewarded with prizes alongside the Regatta sailors. A special mention must be made of the winners of the team prize, which was for the best represented school in all six classes and it was Royal Hospital School, who took first place in 5 classes (and second in the other one).