Zhik Cadet Clemenson Nautilus Trophy at the WPNSA
by Neil Collingridge 28 May 2015 12:08 BST
23-24 May 2015
43 Cadets braved the bank holiday traffic to visit the WPNSA on Portland for the third qualifier for this Summer's World Championships. There was plenty of anticipation of who would make it into the 7 coveted places for the British Team on Lake Garda in August and old hands knew from experience that there would likely be a few twists and turns before selection was finally settled on Sunday afternoon.
The forecast didn't look too encouraging and Saturday dawned clear but with little breeze. The race officer was nevertheless keen to get the boats afloat and announced at the briefing, seemingly optimistically, that if the breeze came he would try to get 4 races in that day.
As the fleet assembled towards the entrance of the harbour there was a breeze coming from the Chesil Beach direction but it was certainly very light and full of shifts and holes. After a relatively short delay to reset the course to the left hand shift race 1 got underway with Daisy and Hamish Collingridge establishing a decent lead after the beat and first reach.
As they set off down the second reach they found a large hole which stopped them dead (maybe it was a huge barrel jellyfish - there were certainly plenty of them around - fortunately no one had told the sailors that basking sharks like eating them) and Archie Penn and Hazel Whittle took over the lead until Daisy and Hamish fought back to take the first win from them with Aliya and Aqil Jannaty in third. Bronze fleet, who had caught quite a significant number of the Gold and Silver fleet in the hole on the second reach, was won by Charlotte Videlo and Katie Yelland after a good tussle with Rosie Targett and George Colquit.
For race 2 there were signs of the breeze strengthening a little - sea breeze to the rescue and with the sun shining Portland Harbour was getting back to its best. Jamie and Bettine Harris sailed a confident race to win from Lainey and Cally Terkelsen with Lucy Corby and Oliver Payne third. First and second in the bronze fleet was reversed with Rosie and George finishing ahead of Charlotte and Katie.
Still a bit more breeze for Race 3, still plenty of sunshine too; conditions approaching champagne sailing! Lainey and Cally winning with increasingly confident form returning at the all important time after a start line bundle at the pin end had caused a number of boats to return when in fact only one of them had pulled the trigger too soon. Jamie and Bettine banked an important second place and Louis Mellor and Antonia Wilkinson came through in 3rd. Again in Bronze it was Rosie and George followed by Charlotte and Katie after some good competitive action in that fleet.
With the sun starting to get lower over Chesil Beach there was still a good force 3 coming down the course and so the race officer stuck to his plan of 4 races. Great sailing; great move. Again Jamie and Bettine sailed a cracking race this time at one point with a big lead, with Daisy and Hamish in hot pursuit reeling them in but ultimately unable to close them down sufficiently on the last downwind leg of the triangle and two sausages.
In this race Ed Harris and Anna Wootton scored an important 3rd to help towards their world team quest after a good old dingdong around the course with Lucy and Ollie. In bronze Rosie and George tightened their grip this time with improving Gabriel Kerwick and Rafferty Martine taking second spot. Home then and some tired children and parents after a wonderful day's sailing. With the race committee pushing their grasp of internet technology to levels the competitors might have been impressed by the results were being posted in real time and so as they came ashore Jamie and Bettine were overnight leaders but with Daisy and Hamish still just in touch and Lainey and Cally not far behind if and when the discard kicked in the next day.
Sunday dawned with little sunshine but a touch more breeze to start with. It was actually pretty chilly afloat but only 2 more races were needed to conclude the event and the qualifier series of 18 races. The class set a new record of 5 minutes to launch all the fleet from the superb launching ramp at WPNSA and set off down the harbour to a similar start area to Saturday. This time the race officer had promised trapezoid courses to match those to be used in Garda this summer with the Gold and Silver sailors doing an inner loop first and the Bronze fleet doing the Buffalo Gals thing "round the outside" from the start - one for Malcolm McLaren fans (all that scratching is making me itch).
The 5th race saw Tom Collyer and Cara Bland find their rhythm again and lead round the first lap but with Lainey and Cally at their transom and Anna Morgan with Jemima Hill also working hard. Lainey and Cally mastered the shifts to move ahead and hold first to the finish with 2nd to 4th very close finishing Anna and Jemima,Tom and Cara, and Daisy and Hamish in that order. Bronze saw a new winner in Phoebe Bradshaw and William Seabrook winning from Rosie and George.
With one race to go it was looking tight but what a final showdown awaited - this was about to be UK Cadet sailing at its best. Jamie and Bettine had used their discard but were leading 2 points ahead of Lainey and Cally and with Daisy and Hamish one point adrift in 3rd.
The port end looked biased and a melee ensued as the fleet jockeyed hard to win the pin end. With 20 seconds to go it was clear the port tack cowboys would have nowhere to go but with some skilful manoeuvring most of the fleet got away cleanly for the 6th start in a row without a general recall. The Cadet Class twitter feed declared this a record - who knows but certainly a testament to the sailors' skill and patience.
Daisy and Hamish set off from the pin with both Lainey and Cally and Jamie and Bettine in close attendance. The Terkelsens headed slightly harder left as Daisy and Jamie both tacked onto port and found a clear lane with pressure on a left handed lift up through the middle of the course. Lucy and Oliie also found clear air to round the first windward second behind Daisy and Hamish who knew at this point there were not enough places between them and Jamie and Bettine to win overall. Up the second beat Daisy appeared to try to slow Jamie into the pack but he sailed past serenely to take the lead by the windward; these two and Lucy and Ollie opened a decent gap on Lainey and Cally who at this stage looked out of the running. It's never over until its over though.
Daisy eased past Jamie again on the second run and as these two and Lucy slowed each other slightly as they went round the outer loop Lainey and Archie started to close the gap. Two marks to go and Daisy, Jamie and Lucy rounded all overlapped but in that order down to the final leeward. With a short beat to the finish Daisy covered first Jamie, who tacked and then back again onto port, then Lucy out on starboard. Lainey, 20m adrift at the final mark, had been left to play the shifts and found a lovely (and significant) starboard hand lift up the middle.
As they converged again Daisy was still just in front but crucially Lainey could pass Lucy into second place - again less than a boat length or two in it. As Jamie came back from the right it was clear the left had just paid so it finished Daisy, Lainey, Lucy and Jamie.....just.
The tightest of finishes to the race that left 3 boats equal on 12 points for the weekend and parents searching for their spreadsheets (well I did anyway!) to work out the count-back. All three had 2 race wins each, but Lainey and Cally also had 2 seconds to Daisy and Jamie's one apiece and so took the win overall with the latter two only split by Daisy's better position in the final race. It doesn't come much closer than that!
In the Silver Fleet, three-times World Team crew Aaron Chadwick continued to show his rapidly developing helming skills, fighting for position in the front group of boats for most of the weekend. Together with crew Ayisa Burke he won the Silver Fleet by 38 points, with Ben Warrington and Katy Lloyd 2nd and Harry and Alice Folkard 3rd.
In Bronze Gabriel and Rafferty continued their weekend of constant improvement to win the final race ahead of Rosie and George whose second left them securely in first overall as Bronze Fleet winners.
Full results can be found here [PDF].
So with the weekend decided it was time to select the British Team. 18 races had been sailed at locations as diverse as Rutland, Brightlingsea and Portland. The full range of light, medium and heavy (very heavy) winds had been experienced and there had been the usual calamities of capsizes, black flag DSQs and chances taken or squandered - even the occasional running aground..... If the sailors nerves had been tested it was nothing compared to their parents who were relieved it was finally over.
Whilst some of the sailors will no doubt be disappointed there's no question that everyone of them should be proud of the standard they have been sailing at, nor should there be any question that the 14 sailors thoroughly deserved their places and will now work hard. The WPNSA's own Peter Allam who himself won an Olympic medal and a couple of years back once sailed a Cadet urged the team to bring home the World Championship at the prizegiving and their training started at 8am the following morning back in Portland Harbour.
Final selector results can be found here [PDF].
2015 GBR Worlds Team for Lake Garda
Daisy and Hamish Collingridge - Waldringfield Sailing Club
Jamie and Bettine Harris - Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club
Tom Collyer and Cara Bland - Aldenham Sailing Club and Waldringfield Sailing Club
Lainey and Cally Terkelsen - Stone Sailing Club
Archie Penn and Hazel Whittle - Waldringfield Sailing Club
Ed Harris and Anna Wootton - Waldringfield Sailing Club
Lucy Corby and Ollie Payne - King George Sailing Club