Cadet Eastern Series at Waldringfield Sailing Club - Overall

More sunshine on the River Deben for the Cadet Eastern Area Series racing at Waldringfield © Steve Proffitt

More sunshine on the River Deben for the Cadet Eastern Area Series racing at Waldringfield © Steve Proffitt

Two further races were held today to complete the series of six scheduled on the River Deben. For the first race, the RO again took the fleet down to “The Rocks”, where a consistent 15 knot North-Easterly was blowing. The course comprised two and a half laps of a windward/leeward loop then upstream to finish on the club house line.

The first four to the windward reflected the overnight positions. Will Kennedy & Rhos Hawes sailing 8539 “Genesis” led, followed closely by John & Alex Page in 8521 “Gnat”, Max & Francesca Ingall in 8855 “Flirting with Danger” and Henry Mills & Oliver Jones in 8845 “Hot Rocks”. However, within a lap Henry & Oliver had passed the first three and led the fleet into the open stretch visible from the club house. The final leg of the race comprised a tight reach between the river bank and the island. Henry & Oliver dropped their spinnaker and kept to the island side. John & Alex following behind opted to keep their spinnaker flying and sail between the river bank and the yachts. To rousing cheers from the shore, John & Alex gradually reeled in Henry & Oliver, taking the lead in the last 200 metres and then pulling away to win by ten lengths. Third place went to Will & Rhos, with Max & Francesca in fourth.

The final race followed lunch and comprised a combination of beats, runs and reaches around the marks downstream from the club house, followed again by a tight spinnaker reach to finish in front of parents and supporters. Four crews were OCS at the pin-end of the line, but only one returned to the start line. In a close-fought and exciting contest, Emma & Lulu Knott in 8350 “Trident”, Max & Francesca Ingall in 8855, Henry Mills & Oliver Jones in 8845, John & Alex Page in 8521 and Will Kennedy & Rhos Hawes in 8539 all worked themselves into contention at some stage during the race. However, once the disqualified crews had been excluded, it was Will & Rhos who took first place.

Cadet Squadron Captain Geoff Harris thanked the Race Officer, Anglia Factors for their sponsorship and all those who had helped with staging the Open Meeting, which had been preceded by three days of training. Vice-Commodore Howard Ryan presented the following trophies on behalf of Waldringfield Sailing Club.

Trophy Winners:

The Harris Salver for winning the Open Meeting to Will Kennedy & Rhos Hawes (8539, Genesis)
The Club Tankard for Best Female Helm to Emma & Lulu Knott (8350, Trident)
The Mason Trophy for first U15 to John & Alex Page (8521, Gnat)
The Lookers Trophy for first U14 to Alex Corby & Lucy Corby (9152, Sci-Fi)
The Open Trophy for first U13 to Annie Knott & Sammy Jones (8393, Rough Justice)
Most Improvement since last year to Mark Yale & Theo Passmore (9292, I’m A Bullet Too)

Overall Results: