Christchurch Sailing Club's 6th Junior Interclub Regatta

6th Christchurch Junior Interclub Regatta © Stephanie McCormick

6th Christchurch Junior Interclub Regatta © Stephanie McCormick

Over the weekend of September 13th & 14th we held the 6th Christchurch Junior Interclub Regatta, featuring young sailors from Christchurch, Mudeford and Highcliffe Sailing Clubs. On both days we had warm and sunny conditions with a light to moderate north easterly breeze in the shelter of Christchurch Harbour.

Most years we see a good blend of experienced racers and new sailors, some racing for the first time, and this year was no exception.

The scores for the first 4 sailors from each club in each race count towards their club's total - so everyone is encouraged to do their best in each race and the younger sailors' performances often make the difference for their clubs in the overall results

Saturday was a close affair. We had two evenly matched teams from Highcliffe and Christchurch with a good blend of experience (competitive testosterone fuelled teenagers) and enthusiastic younger sailors (giggling capsize monkeys). It was fun to watch and packed full of comedy moments. At the end of the day Christchurch held a narrow lead.

We saw two very different teams emerge on Sunday. Of the Christchurch six, only 3 remained - but they were joined by a number of fresh faces including a couple of handy Optimist sailors who'd been racing at the Spinnaker Open the day before. Highcliffe fielded a smaller team but also brought some strong sailors to support Josh McCormick and Jamie Perry in the Radials.

We should also pay tribute to Joe Reid from Mudeford - who emerged as a very good competitor on both days despite being the only representative from his Club this year.

On Sunday, there was less laughter and more macho behaviour on display. The 3 big lads at the front (Jack Arnell, Jamie and Josh) started where they'd left off with some competitive tactics and a few noisy exchanges.

The Christchurch "Team Chaos" Optimists from (Sam De La Feuillade and Drew Barnes) had agreed on a temporary truce between themselves to support the greater good and decided to mix it up on the start line in both races. This generally added to the noise and congestion and the starts were noticeably more competitive than Saturday with the Finn and Radial boys having less space and time to themselves.

Forgetting the noisy stuff for a moment, there was an encouraging turnout from both clubs of sailors who just came to sail well and enjoy themselves. Lauren Rogers (minus her crew from Saturday and now sailing a 4.7), Molly McCormick - also crewless in her Pico and Tom Spencer-Jones all made valuable contributions towards Highcliffe's score and sailed really well all weekend.

For Christchurch, Ela Miller brought Charlotte Wyatt (a noisy 9 year old who has only sailed once before) Their Feva actually sported a gennaker on a few occasions and they both looked exhausted by the end of the day. Tim Dyton and Archie Tarpey both managed to give the impression they were sailing in 35 knots in their Toppers. Power management training needed - or a few more pies. Charlie Lawrence and Marlie Hodgkinson also turned out in their Optimists and raced well - boosting the fleet to 17 boats on Sunday and 24 overall for the weekend.

While the Finn, Radials and Jack Acton's Topper were battling for the overall title, it was the Optimists of Sam and Drew that took first and second places in both races on Sunday. This tipped the balance in Christchurch's favour for the Club trophy and reminds us all that a well sailed boat - in any class - stands a chance of victory. Go match-racing at your peril if you're a Laser or Finn sailor.

Thanks to Dominic Rogers and the Highcliffe team for their endless enthusiasm and support for this event and junior sailing in general. Also thanks to Mudeford for bringing an escort boat Saturday and a very good RS Tera sailor. Finally - congratulations to Christchurch Juniors for another defence of the Principals Trophy. This is Jack Arnell's last year as a junior and Christchurch will have to do without him next year.

Overall Results:

6th Christchurch Junior Interclub Regatta - photo © Stephanie McCormick