Schools Regatta at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

Schools Regatta at Island Barn Reservoir © Nick Marley

Schools Regatta at Island Barn Reservoir © Nick Marley

Schools Regatta at Island Barn Reservoir © Nick Marley

A warm welcome (bacon butties) was given to all visitors, members and parents. All eyes looked out across the reservoir watching the dark shadows of the gusts scudding over the water's surface to the Club House. Heads quickly turned to the anemometer. The reading went from 15 to 27 knots.

The race officer checked with the safety team, sailors and families if they wanted to brave the conditions. Without hesitation, everyone said yes! A simple triangular course was set over at the far side of the reservoir, hoping to protect the fleet from the worst of the gusts by using the dam wall and trees as cover. Seven boats launched and made their way through some pretty strong gusts over to shelter of the far corner.

A cautious three laps were set for the first race. The fast start saw some port fliers as Jack Gilligan led up to the windward mark and back down to lead after the first lap. On the second lap Nicholas Murphy passed Jack to take the lead. He never gave this up and finished the first race as the winner. Teo Hibbet on a full rig topper put in a steady performance and won the slow fleet race.

Now all the boats had comfortably demonstrated that they could sail in the strong winds, the Race Officer upped the stakes. The second race was set as 5 laps. Nicholas Murphy dominated the fast fleet. He shot off on the first beat and no one caught him again. After a tricky first lap, Nicholas Selves moved into second place; a position he held until the finish. In the slow fleet, Rory Clow in his Optimist was just pipped to the line on the last leg by Teo. Although after PY correction Rory will have won the race.

Schools Regatta at Island Barn Reservoir - photo © Nick Marley

It was now time to head back for some lunch at the clubhouse. A huge thank you to the catering volunteers. Having already served a great breakfast, they pulled out a delicious lunch to ready the sailors for the afternoon.

The wind hadn't changed, neither had the enthusiasm of the sailors. So, refuelled, we headed back out on to the reservoir. Nicholas Murphy picked up from where he had left off holding the lead for all five laps of the first race, a great sail! Jack put in a steady second half of the race to finish second. Rory had an absolute flyer in his Optimist! He put in some amazing reaches bringing the boat right out of the water on the plane. Rory was first in the slow fleet. Just how well Rory did was seen after we did the PY corrections... 2nd overall in that race! Well done to Josie and Ben Mason! They finished second place in the slow fleet.

Bodies were tiring and capsizing was becoming a little more frequent. The race officer decided that fourth race would be the final one of the day. It was now more a battle of stamina than tactics. Iwan Drewett led for the first lap which was well deserved as he had put in a strong performance all day. However, it didn't take Nicholas Murphy long to pull back and retake the lead which he held through to the finish. Rory, once again, led the slow fleet to take the win at the finish line.

What an amazing day's racing! A really well done to sailors, a big thank you to the safety team (and the parents that assisted them) and great food from the catering team (I'm told to mention something about duck pancakes). Well done to race office and his assistant for getting in four races on such a windy day.

Overall Results: