Noble Marine Enterprise U21 Championship at Barnt Green Sailing Club

Enterprise U21 Championship at Barnt Green © Bob Suggitt

Enterprise U21 Championship at Barnt Green © Bob Suggitt

The Enterprise U21 Championship was held once again at Barnt Green Sailing Club. Conditions were good with a force 2 – 3 wind but with plenty of shifts keeping things interesting.

Race 1 saw all boats starting on port tack from a shore based line. At the first mark Jack Lawson and Greg Little (Killington S.C.) led from Chris Winters and Florence Mooney (Midland S.C.) with Calum and Rory MacKenzie (Ogston S.C.) in third. A big gybing battle at the second mark saw Chris and Florence take the lead. However it was Calum and Rory who lead by the next windward mark with Jack and Greg second and Chris and Florence third. Calum and Rory built the lead on the next long beat with Chris and Florence now steady in second and Jack and Jamie Cammann (Ely S.C.) third. Jack and Jamie lost out on the next beat dropping a place to Jack and Greg. Calum and Rory extended the lead even further to win by about two minutes from Chris and Florence who sailed well to hold second place with Jack and Greg third and Jack and Jamie fourth.

Race 2 started after a general recall. Calum and Rory got away first but after a very congested first beat it was Jack and Greg who led around the windward mark, Chris and Florence were second with Calum and Rory third. The first six boats were all together and with many wind shifts it made for some very exciting racing. Calum and Rory got the lead on the following beat from Jack and Greg second, with local boat Will Locket and Hannah Mayden (Barnt Green S.C.) third. Good sailing by Chris and Florence saw them move up to second with Jack and Greg third. Chris and Florence kept applying pressure on Calum and Rory who covered well to keep the lead, finishing first, Chris and Florence took second followed by Jack and Gregg in third.

A clean start in Race 3 saw the right hand side of the beat favoured. At the windward mark local boat Will and Hannah lead from Calum and Rory third was Richard Abendstern and Matt Dhaliwall (Toddbrook S.C.) with Alex Homer and Will Eltringham (Midland S.C.) fourth. On the next beat Jack and Greg went high along the dam and were lifted up to the mark, allowing them to go over the fleet and challenge Calum and Rory for the lead. At the start of the second lap Calum and Rory along with Jack and Greg headed for the left hand side of the beat, whilst Charlie Berry and Chris Morton (Etherow County Park S.C.) chose the right, allowing them to take the lead with Calum and Rory second, Jack and Greg third. Calum and Rory took back the lead from Charlie and Chris after they hit the mark and had to do a penalty turn. Places remained the same until the final beat to the finish line, when Calum and Rory sailed high as the wind backed to make the final leg a fetch and crossed the line first, Chris and Florence seized their opportunity and taking the same route as Calum and Rory passed three boats to windward and snatching a spectacular second place by sailing up the bank under the race hut. Jack and Jamie finished third.

Race 4 saw three boats having to return to the start after being over the line, Alex and Will started at the committee boat end of the line and decided to go left up the beat whilst the rest of the fleet went right, this resulted in Alex and Will rounding the windward mark first by a good distance with Chris and Florence in second. The run saw the fleet close up near the leeward mark with many place changes, Chris and Florence rounded first followed by Alex and Will in second, with Calum and Rory rounding third ahead of Jack and Greg who had to do penalty turns. At the top of the beat Chris and Florence had maintained their first place but Jack and Jamie had moved up to second placed followed by Calum and Rory in third. These places remained unchanged until the top of the next beat where Jack and Jamie took the lead, only for them to round the mark the in the wrong direction followed by Chris and Florence, allowing Calum and Rory to take the lead with a correct mark rounding. The shortened course lead to confusion over the finish line and saw the leaders sail for the wrong mark resulting in many place changes. Calum and Rory were the first to realize the mistake and head for the correct finish line to take first place ahead of Jack and Jamie in second and Jack and Greg in third

After a short postponement Jack and Greg lead off the line in Race 5 and rounded the windward mark first followed by Calum and Rory in second and Chris and Florence in third. On the run the fleet closed up with many place changes. Jack and Greg sailed the wrong course allowing Calum and Rory to take the lead closely followed by Jack and Jamie. Jack and Jamie went right up the beat taking the lead ahead of Chris and Florence in second and Calum and Rory in third. These places remained unchanged all the way to the finish.

Enterprise U21 Championship prize winners - photo © Paula Southworth

Overall Results:

Enterprise U21 Championship prize winners - photo © Paula Southworth