London Youth Traveller Series at Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre

London Youth Traveller Series at Hillingdon © Sally Jones

London Youth Traveller Series held at Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre on 14th April 2013 Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre played host to the first of 3 London Traveller Series Events on 14th April. 19 visiting sailors joined a home fleet of 17 to compete in Toppers, RS Fevas, RS Teras and Laser Radials.

The competitors were greeted by glorious sunshine when they arrived, staying fair throughout the day. A brisk breeze made for some good sailing weather with some gusts throwing a few of the racers into the water!

Competition was pretty fierce throughout, especially in the Topper fleet where resident Topper racers Mary and Patrick Horsley (Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre) came up against some stiff competition from Leila Moore (Docklands). Mary had the edge on the first race leaving Patrick in 2nd whilst Leila finished 4th. Mary was not finished yet at showing her brother how it's done and went on to record wins in the other three races. This meant Mary won overall.

The sibling team of Oliver and Sam Lythgoe (Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre) closed down the competition in the RS Fevas early on, managing to record a fantastic four straight wins in their races. The remainder of the boat fleet were close behind having been for a few swims along the way.

With only two Laser Radial sailors competing in the event, Enzio Daghini would be excused for thinking this event would be a breeze for him. Although he could say that he won the Laser fleet with 2 firsts and 2 seconds, his rival on the water Patrick had also clocked up the same results! So it came down to who won the last race. For the younger sailors the wind was very strong and only 3 boats managed all three races with Curtis Mckay from Hillingdon walking away with 3 first places!

By the end of the day everyone was definitely ready for home having spent the day trying hard to keep their boats upright and for some having been swimming all day. A very successful day was rounded off with prize giving.

Thanks must go to Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre for the use of their facilities, the Race Officer Richard Dixon for some fab races ably helped by Keith Smaggasgale and David McKay. Thank you to all the event team who helped make the day happen. We are already looking forward to hoisting next year's event!

Overall Results: