Cadet Inland Championships at Datchet Water Sailing Club

by Peter Collyer 22 Oct 2013 15:38 BST 19-20 October 2013

Cadet Inland Championships 2013 © Tristan Beckett

Alex Page and Aaron Chadwick are the Cadet Class Inland Champions for 2013, following a hard-fought event that came down to the final race. For some Cadet sailors this marked the end of their season, while others saw it as the start of their build-up to the next World Championships, which take place in Weymouth in August 2014.

The competitors arrived at Datchet Water on Day 1 to find no sign of the Force 6 gusts that had been promised by the forecasters. By the time the fleet launched a light SE breeze was blowing, creating shifty, tactical conditions well-suited to an inland championships.

In Race 1 the fleet got away under the black flag at the third attempt and it was 9047 George and Tom Bridge from Frensham Pond who led at the first windward mark. George/Tom held their lead until the top of the second beat where 9962 Willow and Cara Bland from Waldringfield slipped past on the way to the spreader mark. 8521 Alex Page and Aaron Chadwick (Brightlingsea/Fisher's Green) caught up with the leading two and these three boats remained close together up the final beat before Alex/Aaron stole the lead with a daring port tack approach at the final windward mark, then holding on to win from Willow/Cara with George/ Tom third. Behind them 8352 Lucy and Cally Terkelsen from Stone had recovered well from a poor start, charging through the fleet to finish fourth.

Race 2 began with a big shift soon after the start that favoured the left side of the course. 8541 Alex Warrington and Anna Wootton (Thorpe Bay/Waldringfield) led at the first mark with 8441 Ben Shorrock and Ellie Watling from Frensham close behind. Alex/Anna quickly built a healthy lead while a battle for second developed between Ben/Ellie and Lucy/Cally. Alex/Anna continued to stretch ahead and took the win with Lucy/Cally second and Ben/Ellie third, having fought off a strong challenge from Waldringfield's 8432 Lulu Knott and Daisy Nunn.

After lunch more breeze greeted the competitors for the start of Race 3, where the black flag claimed two of the leading contenders in Lucy/Cally and Alex/Anna. Alex/Aaron had a commanding lead by the first windward and stayed ahead for an emphatic victory, while behind them an excellent battle developed between Ben/Ellie, 9083 Scarlett Anderson and Scott Ellis from Corinthian Otters, and 8845 Megan Ferguson and Yasmin Sfaxi from Frensham. Ben/Ellie pulled away to take a solid second while Scarlett/Scott and Megan/Yasmin traded places all the way to the finish where Scarlett/Scott took third place.

Cadet Inland Championships 2013 - photo © Tristan Beckett

Day 2 dawned under dark and foreboding skies with heavy rain, and competitors endured a treacherous journey back to the venue and a soaking while rigging their boats. However, miraculously the clouds parted and the sun came out just as the fleet launched, allowing Race 4 to start in a near perfect Force 2-3 breeze. Away on the second attempt (black flag flying) it was again Alex/Anna who led at the first mark with Alex/Aaron close behind and Ben/Ellie third. Alex/Aaron played the shifts well up the second beat to emerge in the lead, but it remained close and by the finish Alex/Anna had taken the lead back with Alex/Aaron second and George/Tom getting past Ben/Ellie to snatch third.

As marks were being set for Race 5 the black clouds reappeared, promising the gusty conditions that had been expected all weekend. 8513 Sam Wrankmore and Toby Slump from Frensham Pond appeared at the front of the fleet for the first time and led for the first triangle while behind them the first squalls to appear during racing sent a couple of boats for unwelcome Autumn swims. Sam/Toby went on to finish an excellent fourth, with Ben/Ellie winning ahead of Lucy/Cally and Alex/ Aaron. This set things up for a nail-biting finale, with Alex/Aaron and Ben/Ellie both in with a chance of taking the title.

However, for much of the lunch-break it appeared that racing was over for the day, with thunder and lightning overhead and gale-force gusts blowing over many of the boats parked on the foreshore. But at about 3.15pm the weather cleared again and the fleet launched in time for the race officer to fire the warning signal for Race 6 just before the 4pm cut-off. The wind had gone to the SW and dropped to a whisper, and it was Lulu/Daisy who led at the first mark from Lucy/Cally, with 8846 Tom Collyer and Henry Haxby from Aldenham/Fisher's Green third.

As the breeze increased substantially the leading three pulled away on the reaches together with Alex/Anna who traded places with Tom/Henry all the way to the bottom of the course. There was no sign of Alex/Aaron who had been buried in the pack at the start, or Ben/Ellie who were recovering from a roll-tacking capsize on the first beat. On the second beat it was Tom and Henry's turn to go for a swim, taking them out of contention, and by the finish Lucy/Cally took the win from George/Tom (making the podium for the third time) and Alex/Anna third. With this final race victory for Lucy/Cally and it being the discard for both Alex/Aaron and Ben/Ellie, some careful checking of the results took place before Alex Page and Aaron Chadwick were confirmed Inland Champions for 2013, with Lucy and Cally Terkelsen a point behind in second and Ben Shorrock and Ellie Watling a further single point back in third. Alex also took the trophy for the first U14 helm and Lucy the prize for first girl.

In the Silver Fleet it was a similarly close competition for top honours, Harry Fitzsimmons and Sam Woodhouse from Royal Lymington winning from Jamie Tointon and Hamish Taylor from Parkstone, with Megan Ferguson and Yasmin Sfaxi third. Megan also took the prize for first U13 helm. The Bronze Fleet was dominated by Ellie Wootton and Kate White from Waldringfield, counting 5 race wins and discarding a second place. As always at the Cadet Inland Championships the biggest trophy went to the smallest sailor with Jess Watling from Frensham Pond winning the prize for the youngest crew

Main fleet results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	8521	Alex PAGE	Aaron CHADWICK	1	7	1	2	3	16	14
2	8352	Lucy TERKELSEN	Cally TERKELSEN	4	2	BFD40	6	2	1	15
3	8441	Ben SHORROCK	Ellie WATLING	6	3	2	4	1	8	16
4	9047	George BRIDGE	Tom BRIDGE	3	11	9	3	10	2	27
5	8432	Lulu KNOTT	Daisy Nunn	11	4	15	5	5	4	29
6	8541	Alex WARRINGTON	Anna WOOTTON	21	1	BFD40	1	8	3	34
7	8514	Ed HARRIS	Faye CHATTERTON	5	8	12	10	11	5	39
8	9369	Sam YALE	Harry CHATTERTON	26	5	10	12	6	7	40
9	7630	Harry FITZSIMMONS	Sam Woodhouse	7	26	13	8	7	6	41
10	9962	Willow BLAND	Robert KEEN	2	12	7	9	18	12	42
11	8291	Jamie TOINTON	Hamish TAYLOR	13	14	8	7	37	14	56
12	9083	Scarlett ANDERSON	Scott ELLIS	17	19	3	15	19	13	67
13	8845	Megan FERGUSON	Yasmin Sfaxi	22	16	4	23	14	11	67
14	8513	Samuel WRANKMORE	Toby Slump	18	6	22	21	4	19	68
15	9294	Isobel SPEIRS	Molly SPEIRS	8	20	19	14	23	9	70
16	9050	Jamie HARRIS	Bettine HARRIS	14	9	18	11	20	DNF40	72
17	9635	Louis MELLOR	Rosie TARGETT	12	27	6	19	17	20	74
18	9319	Aliya JANNATY	Aqil JANNATY	27	15	5	17	13	26	76
19	9020	Anna MORGAN	Phoebe BRADSHAW	10	17	14	25	25	10	76
20	9754	Livvy BATES	Charlotte VIDELO	25	24	11	18	16	21	90
21	9382	Reece LANE	Max Buswell	16	25	26	33	9	17	93
22	9384	Emily MITCHELL	Rebecca MITCHELL	9	RDG19.5	17	28	31	30	103.5
23	8846	Tom COLLYER	Henry Haxby	30	18	16	16	24	DNF40	104
24	9152	Lucy CORBY	Oliver PAYNE	23	22	25	22	15	24	106
25	9240	Henry MARSH	Jess WATLING	32	34	27	20	12	18	109
26	9027	Ben BARR	Joshua BENNETT	19	30	28	13	21	BFD40	111
27	9013	Oliver KING	Harrison KING	20	21	20	34	27	33	121
28	7337	Sarah O'BRIEN	James paul anthony HAGUE	28	28	21	24	26	31	127
29	8420	Lainey TERKELSEN	Martha JONES	34	10	35	30	34	22	130
30	8440	Esme JONES	Eliza Jones	15	13	24	NYF40	DNS40	DNS40	132
31	8542	Joe BARR	Adam LLOYD	31	29	31	26	28	25	139
32	8351	William WILKES	Issie FOWLEY	24	37	33	31	22	32	142
33	9673	Abbey WILLIAMS	Tom STRATTON‑BROWN	35	36	30	29	DNF40	15	145
34	9321	Katie SPARK	Lia FLETCHER	36	33	23	36	29	27	148
35	9243	Rory BURDOCK	John GRAY	33	23	36	38	35	23	150
36	8844	Lucy MALLINDER	Jessica WILLIAMS	37	31	29	27	32	34	153
37	7274	Hannah GOODRICH	Poppy REDFERN	29	32	34	35	33	28	156
38	8447	Ryan WILKINSON	Finbarr WORMWELL	38	35	32	32	30	29	158
39	9005	William PALIERAKIS	Shannon MCCARTHY	39	38	37	37	36	35	183

Bronze fleet results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	6664	Ellie WOOTTON	Kate WHITE	2	1	1	1	1	1	5
2	9029	Benjamin WARRINGTON	Katy LLOYD	1	4	2	2	2	3	10
3	8402	Timothy MALIKOV	Emma SOWDEN	3	2	4	4	5	2	15
4	6842	Evelynn TURNPENNY	Amy Allen	5	3	3	3	3	4	16
5	9225	Nathan ALLEN	Louis Lapagge	4	5	DNC6	5	4	DNS6	24