Cadet Open Meeting at Exe Sailing Club

Winners of the Exe Cadet Open were Tom Kinver and James Proffitt © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Second place at the Exe Cadet Open went to Arthur & Mary Henderson © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Action from the Cadet Open at Exe © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Twelve visiting boats joined seven locals to compete in the annual Exe Cadet open event. Saturday’s first race was started on time but a massive wind shift after ten minutes forced an abandonment. The next attempt to start, on a reset course, also had to be abandoned as the wind failed completely.

At the third attempt the race got underway with one of the visitors, ‘Bad Influence’, sailed by Arthur and Mary Henderson of Tamesis Sailing Club leading the fleet up the first beat. However as the race progressed the Lymington crew of Molly Bridge and Hettie Penman found the best speed in the light airs to take first from Exe SC’s Tom Kinver and Jamie Proffitt in ‘Cyclone’. In race two Kinver made a perfectly timed port tack start and led to the finish, followed in by ‘Exe–Celerator’, sailed by Alex Horlock and James Turl. In race three Kinver again made the best of the start and pulled out a comfortable lead, this time from the light weight partnership of Amy Yeoman and Alice Alcock from Parkstone sailing club. At the end of day one Kinver and Proffitt were in a strong position, with their Exe SC colleagues Horlock and Turl in second.

Sunday morning dawned wet and almost windless but after a tow out to the race area from the fleet of safety boats the Cadets got away for race four in a light southerly breeze. This time it was Henderson who found the best speed, especially downwind, and took first from Kinver. In race five another local boat ‘Thriller’ (Dom Langdon and Shaun Spring) made the best start, finding clear air to arrive at the windward mark fifteen boat lengths clear. Downwind it was not so easy, as the Hendersons showed their downwind form and gradually pulled in Langdon’s lead to take first place.

Kinver managed only a fourth leaving him just three points ahead of the Hendersons with one race to go. In the final race, the Parkstone girls Yeoman and Alcock broke clear on the second lap and held on to take first place with the Hendersons second and Kinver a very close third, enough to give Tom and Jamie the victory and the newly-presented competition trophy, the Whites’ Pharmacy cup, by just two points from the Hendersons with Amy Yeoman and Alice Alcock in third place.

Exmouth’s 49er European champion and Olympic contender Stevie Morrison concluded a great weekend of highly competitive sailing by presenting the prizes, including Olympic squad rash vests to Gemma Hoult and Eleanor Geare, the winners of the special endurance prize.

Overall Results: