Cadet World Championships at the WPNSA - Overall

A great week draws to a close

After the perfect conditions of 'Big Thursday' the final day of the Cadet World Championships at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy always threatened to be an anti-climax. It certainly looked that way for a while as a fickle breeze postponed Race 11 for over 2 hours, but once it started racing was every bit as intense and competitive as it had been on the previous day. Series leaders Thomas and Sophie Alexander had one hand on the trophy but the German pair of Julius Mathwig and Matthias Henning were poised in second place, waiting to pounce should the Aussies trip up. GBR's Lucy and Cally Terkelsen were looking good in 3rd but with a group of boats including the 2013 champion behind them who would be bidding to get ahead on this final day.

When Race 11 finally got underway the fleet found itself beating into a light North-westerly wind on a course that afforded an excellent view for the spectators on the WPNSA balcony. At the first windward mark last year's World Champion Igor Lvov with crew Maria Kulbashina rounded first with World Champions-elect Thomas and Sophie Alexander close behind. NED9689 Nienke de Jong/Suzanne Lap was 3rd and UK National Champions Alex Page and Aaron Chadwick 4th, so with no sign of Mathwig and Henning the Australian pair settled in to defend the 2nd position that would confirm them as champions. Going back up the course the Ukrainian boat covered their every tack, determined to go out on a high with a final-day win. At the windward mark for the second time the leading two held position but an excellent beat from BEL8522 saw them move up to 3rd. Their tenure in a podium position was short-lived however as by the following lap AUS9614 Olivia Nelson/Gabriel Nolan had pulled through to 3rd, pushing the Belgians down to 4th ahead the British boats GBR9962 Willow/Cara Bland and GBR8352 Lucy/Cally Terkelsen. By the time the front of the fleet turned onto the final reach Ukrainians Igor and Maria had a big lead and the Alexanders were safe in 2nd, and they stayed this way to the finish, followed home by AUS9616 in 3rd and Lucy Cally Terkelsen in 4th, determined to confirm their position on the overall podium.

The 12th race started with a sense of urgency – the sailing instructions stated a cut-off time of 3pm for the last start on this final day, but prompt work from the Race Office and his team (who had been brilliant all week) meant that both fleets were on their way back up the course with a few minutes to spare. In the Worlds fleet it was once again the lone Ukrainian boat which had built a sizeable lead by the first windward mark while behind them an excellent battle was developing between POL9848 Maria/Zofia Hochtaubel and GBR9964 Lucy Corby/Ollie Payne. While Igor and Maria sailed away to win again by a big margin, the British and Polish boats traded places to the very end with Lucy and Ollie appearing to have it on the final run only for Poles to come back and snatch 2nd place from them before the finish.

Significantly for the overall results, Lucy and Cally Terkelsen had another solid performance with a 6th place but Mathwig and Henning turned out to be the only top boat not to enjoy the lighter conditions, posting results of 23rd and 18th on the final day to drop off the podium.

So overall Thomas and Sophie Alexander are Cadet Class World Champions 2014 following a brilliant display of sailing in all conditions that saw them dominate the competition. Igor Lvov and Maria Kulbashna got better as the week went on and thoroughly deserved their 2nd place having won both the races on the final day, and Lucy and Cally Terkelsen always looked like the top British boat, winning one race and never finishing lower than 12th to take third overall and first all-girl crew. Full results can be found at www.cadetclass.org.uk/sitedata/Worlds_14/Cadet_Worlds_Results.pdf

A prize-giving and closing ceremony that featured a specially-arranged fly-past by the Red Arrows brought the event to a spectacular close and by mid-evening many young sailors had headed to Chesil Beach for one last party. The 2015 Cadet Worlds will be held at Lake Garda, Italy but in the meantime the domestic fleet only has a short break before the racing programme resumes in September. Full details can be found at www.cadetclass.org.uk/Events

The UK Cadet Class would like to thank all those who helped to make the event possible, particularly all of our sponsors and fundraisers, and Peter Allam, Sally Reynoldson and the rest of the team at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.