Cadet Open at South Cerney Sailing Club

Cadets at South Cerney © Dave Whittle

Cadets at South Cerney © Dave Whittle

Cadets at South Cerney © Dave Whittle

Last weekend saw the largest turnout for a Cadet open meeting at South Cerney SC. 36 boats took part, with competitors enjoying sunshine, light winds and really close racing. The first race on Saturday featured a light North wind, allowing the race officer to set a windward leeward course using the full length of the lake. This gave the competitors options to use either side of the course and work the shifts coming off the trees and club house at the north end of our lake. The first beat of the first race set the tone for the weekend with a 30 degree shift first to the right, and then back to the left, ultimately allowing those who started at the pin to get to the first windward mark in the lead. Nevertheless, the visiting world team boats showed their class, and on the first run worked their way into the lead by gybing down wind to stay in the strongest bands of breeze. Alex Page and Aaron Chadwick in "Gnat" finally took the win, closely followed by Ross Thompson and Jake Thompson in "Get a Grip".

Slightly more breeze and a "figure of eight" course for the second race tested spinnaker skills, with two gybe marks and a very tight reach. The reach especially proved a challenge for some who carried their kites, resulting in a few frantic short tacks to lay the far end and round down to the leeward mark. There was a good match between Ben Shorrock and Ellie Watling in "It Takes Two" and Alex and Aaron, with Ben and Ellie taking the inside line for the last gybe and then being able to lead downwind to the leeward mark and go on to take the win.

The third race featured another windward leeward course, with the rhumb line of the run taking the competitors close to the shore and into light winds. Ross and Jake clearly had their eyes open and managed to gybe out into the middle of the lake and then back into the leeward mark, staying in good breeze and leading after the first lap. Harry Fitzsimmons and Sam Woodhouse in "Pulling Power" got their best result of the day crossing the line in second place.

Racing of a different kind continued on Saturday afternoon and into the evening with both a Kayak parent / child race and the annual Scalextric championships. After 6 heats, 36 racers competing, a number of race restarts, spectacular crashes and huge amount of trackside noise, Ben Shorrock lifted the SCSC Scalextric championship trophy. Jamie and Mark Tointon took the win in the Kayaks.

Two more races on Sunday saw similar winds, although veering right to the North East over the morning. The pressure was starting to show, as two general recalls were needed for race 4. Finally the black flag was displayed, which caught out Ben and Ellie as they squeezed in under the race officers nose whilst trying to win the committee boat end of the line. The rest of the fleet got away clean and a close battle between Ross & Jake and Harry & Sam ensued with Ross & Jake taking the win.

The final race saw the start line and beat repositioned due to a constant North Easterly, meaning the windward mark and finish were now right in front of the club house. The "figure of eight" course allowed the Cadet sailors to demonstrate their spinnaker skills again, with some really classy hoists, gybes and drops. With the big shifts and close racing, any one of four boats could have taken the win after the final leeward as they all rounded within a few seconds of each other. Ali Wallace & William Farrant in "Sullom Voe" and Tom Collyer and Francis Butterworth in "No Fear" chose the middle / left of the beat hoping to stay in the stronger breeze. Ross & Jake and Lucy Corby & Ollie Payne in "Sibling Rivalry" went middle right and took advantage of a lift into the finish, with Lucy and Ollie taking the win to the applause of parents standing in front of the club house.

With their two bullets, two seconds and a fourth, Ross and Jake were the standout consistent performers and overall winners of the SCSC 2014 Cadet Open Championship. Harry and Sam took second place and Alex and Aaron in third. First South Cerney boat was Aliya Jannaty and Olivia Ballentyne in "All is Swell", and first Bronze fleet boat was Amy & Ben Goult in "Hiccup". The Persistence prize was awarded to Daisy Everard and Oscar Ballentyne - well done guys for completing every race! The lucky 13th prize, a North sails gift voucher, was won by Reece Land and Max Buswell in "Execelerator".

Congratulations to Yunus Jannaty (SCSC Cadet Class Captain) and team, especially Olwynne Goodrich who organised and ran the galley. South Cerney 96 Cadet Squadron donated £250 from the event proceeds towards the Cadet Class World Championships being held in Weymouth this year, which was received with thanks by Andy Shorrock, the UKNCCA Chairman.

Overall Results: