North West Junior Travellers' Trophy at Budworth Sailing Club

On the May Bank Holiday 52 junior entries for the North West Junior Traveller's Trophy were received – rather more than expected. The two previous events earlier in the year were circa 20 and 30 entries respectively and so numbers in these regions were expected. Even so over 40 entry forms had been printed, but they still ran out.

The entries were split into three divisions – Optimist, Junior Handicap, and Youth Handicap. This made for some interesting race management with an RS100 at one end of the handicap scale and Optimists at the other end, all on the one course with average lap scoring. With a wind forecast gusting 4, with up to a 6 expected later, the rescue teams were expecting to be busy too.

The first set of starts got away cleanly (in fact there were only two OCSs for the whole day), and in a challenging wind direction off Marbury Park the Youth fleet in Lasers and Radials pretty much flew round the course, with the Junior fleet of 35 boats following on. Oliver Davenport of Redesmere got the gun and Zac Gibbons was second for the Youths, with sibling Drew Gibbons getting the gun on the Optimist fleet. Stephanie Wingeat of Leigh and Lowton won the first race in her Topper in the Junior fleet, setting the pattern for the rest of her races.

After lunch (heroically supplied by Allison Hubbard and her team to a far greater demand than expected) race three was held. While wind continued to blow off the park, with both gusts and large shifts in direction, the PRO extended the course in an attempt to gain separation of the fleets. This also resulted in an extended race duration, but the fleets were up to the challenge and continued to sail well. Race 2 was won by Gibbons in the Youths, Stephanie Wingeat for the Juniors and Drew Gibbons again in the Optimist fleet.

After a short break race 3 was held, and thankfully the forecasted 6 was noticeable by its absence. The PRO kept the race a bit shorter this time, with Zac Gibbons winning the Youth, Stephanie Wingeatt making it three bullets for the Junior, and Harvey Leigh the Optimist.

The day delivered some spectacular sailing for those who rode the gusts (the Graduate of Ben and Gabe Hill was of particular note), and some capsizes for those who got caught out by the gusts. However, all the fleets coped astoundingly well leaving the rescue teams and coaches to run all over the Mere but to have nothing to do when they got there.

Thanks to all the parents who brought their children and coped with the congestion in the car park, to the galley crew who provided breakfast and lunch to so many, the rescue and coaching teams in the ribs, and the volunteers who helped out with the results and running the racing, in particular Hugh Devereux and the two Mikes.

We hope to see everyone again next year, when we will have more entry forms printed off.

Overall Results:

Optimist
1st Drew Gibbons
2nd Harvey Leigh
3rd Sian Talbot
1st Budworth, Emily Page in 6th

Junior
1st Stephanie Wingeatt
2nd Ben and Gabe Hill
3rd Rebecca Barry
4th & 1st under 14, Sam Cooper
1st Budworth, Tom Whelan in 18th

Youth
1st Zac Gibbons
2nd Oliver Davenport
3rd Nick Devereux (of Budworth)

Full Results: