Waldringfield Cadet & Radial event sponsored by Zhik and Anglia Factors
by Neil Collingridge 25 Jul 2016 11:16 BST
23-24 July 2016
Hattie and Hamish Collingridge in 'No Regrets' at the Waldringfield Cadet open meeting © J Dearlove
Whilst a number of Cadets had headed South to watch Sir Ben pulverise the opposition in Portsmouth, the racing on the Deben in Suffolk was no less intense with some very close battles throughout the fleet which included 5 GBR World Team boats for Argentina this Christmas.
On Saturday the first race sailing a P shaped course towards Galleons Hard was won by Megan Ferguson and Yasmin Sfaxi from Frensham pond after they hauled in first Hazel Whittle and Imogen Leigh and then Katie Spark and Connor Line. In a light sea breeze Katie and Connor came second followed by Hattie and Hamish Collingridge in third.
Quick turnarounds were the order of the day and our former Cadet World Champion (it was in a different century) Ian Videlo as race officer set a Waldringfield special - the famous zig-zag with 3 tight reaches and 2 gybes per lap. Ellie Wootton and Amelia Mayhew nailed this race pulling ahead of Katie and Connor and Hattie and 'Mish' (Hamish) as they played the shifts throughout.
So for the third race the yellow jerseys were passed to Katie and Connor as the PRO switched to a slightly less taxing triangle sausage. The tide was on the turn and the beats became a balance between taking the shifts, sailing to the tide or shepherding those behind. Nailing the lay line was tough but essential.
The top 5 boats were rarely more than 30m apart and at the finish Cara Bland and Tristan Whittle took the gun after a neck and neck run with Hattie and Mish and Ellie and Amelia. Megan and Yasmin had pushed hard with a big bear away at the top but the real gain to be had was to gybe straight out of the tide which further down the fleet was spotted by Kate White and Faye Chatterton.
So overnight Ellie leading from Hattie but only on countback. 1 point adrift were both Megan and Katie so all to play for on day 2.
Sunday arrived with more glorious sunshine, not a huge amount of breeze in the morning so off we set via a couple of aborted course setups towards Waldringfield Rocks - that heinous stretch of river where short tacking up the shore has to be nailed to come out as top dog but where you have to weave your way through the various yachts watching at anchor.
We were joined on Sunday morning by the under 21 Laser Radials where Archie Penn was beaten by his usual 420 crew Ben Warrington into second. Charlotte Leigh came a commendable third having swapped Cadet for Radial overnight.
Back to the Cadets, Hattie established a useful lead up the first beat but ventured into the foul tide too early allowing Ellie and then Megan to sneak past, finishing in that order. Some heroic performances were put in by the less experienced crews as they struggled to round the mark in the fitful breeze and no one worried when the PRO shifted the sailors to the tidal shelter on the other side of the Island up past Waldringfield for the next race.
Race 5, another zig-zag. Shifts aplenty. Archie stormed the radials ahead of Ben and Angus Collingridge. In the cadets it was Ellie bossing the fleet to take the win and the open meeting ahead of Hattie, second, who had caught up after being buried on the first beat, and Megan third.
This left Hattie needing to beat Megan to take second overall in the cadets for Race 6. With a strengthening wind but still shifting big-time, Katie found her form to take the win, Hattie yet again second and Cara in third. The radials once again had Archie taking the win and the event from Ben third and visitor James Oakley in third.
Prizegiving followed with some great prizes supplied by Zhik and our local bespoke kitchen supplier Anglia Factors. A big thank-you to them and to everyone who bought home made cakes to help pay to send a container of cadets to the worlds in Argentina. Silver fleet was won by Lia Fletcher and Olivia Gowland who also won most improved from last year. Imogen Mayhew (8) won youngest crew.