Waldringfield Cadet Week 2018 sponsored by Gill, Harken, VetPlus and Seamark Nunn

After the excitement of the recent Cadet Worlds in Germany, a trip to Waldringfield in Suffolk for Cadet Week was high on the agenda as the next important event of the summer.

With 22 Cadets entered including 4 in the coached silver fleet and a further 13 Laser Radials being sailed mainly by former Cadets things were nicely set up for the usual recipe of competitive racing combined with evening shore activities, parents cocktail party, locally sourced (and excellent) Keo Street burgers, sausages and pulled pork, stone baked pizzas, a maheusive scavenger hunt, raft building, 8 (yes really) legged races, marshmallow roasting... you name it, we had it.

The five days kicked off on the Friday with racing in the Tips area of the beautiful River Deben. A decent breeze - one of the the best of the summer so far was nevertheless accompanied by rain as menacing dark clouds scudded across the track. Lia Fletcher and Mish Collingridge won the first race from Kate White and Rhona Enkel with Angus Collingridge and Ed Fletcher hitting back in race 2 to take the win from Kate and Rhona again in second. In the Radial fleet Archie Penn took both wins from Hattie Collingridge who was still getting to grips with the hiking thing. Some problems with the committee boat engine, together with a sharp shower put paid to any more racing for the day although by 4 o'clock the sun was once shining again across the stunning Deben.

Waldringfield Cadet Week 2018 - photo © Neil Collingridge

On Saturday morning the fleets were scheduled to do a couple of races before the club racing took place in the afternoon. Angus and Ed strengthened their holds on the yellow jerseys by winning the first from Anna Wootten and Imogen Mayhew and Lia and Mish stayed in touch by winning the second race of the day from Daisy Nunn and Oscar Bush in second. Over with the laser radials Archie took another race win with Ben Warrington winning the other and Hattie adding two more 2nds. After club racing in the afternoon the traditional Ex-Cadets single handed race took place - Stephen Videlo once again coming to the fore but pushed reasonably hard by Hattie (actually ineligible as technically she could still sail one) and Ellie Wootten (who is just the right side of the cut off) - watch out Stephen, they will be after you next year. Then it was the Old Gaffers race - aggregate age over 70, helm over 35... politeness prevents disclosure of the age of the winners, Gordon Harris and Olivia Gowland; suffice it to say that multiple winner Gordon has been able to enter this race with a newborn tucked in the spinnaker bag for some years now - life in the old dog yet!

Waldringfield Cadet Week 2018 - photo © Neil Collingridge

Saturday evening saw the parents' cocktail party with a number of the elder competitors joining in although falling by the wayside as the night progressed. This led to some bleary eyes on Sunday morning, not exclusive to the parents. However, the show must go on. Two more races in the Cadets - both won by Angus and Ed with Kate and Rhona runner up in both... but over in the Radials, Hattie was getting to grips with things taking two wins both from Archie to start to make the overall positions a bit tighter. Sunday also saw the Silver fleet Cadets joining in - race wins in each to Libby Bush and Bea Walker. The Sunday afternoon pursuit race was won by Matteo Mancini and Kali Karaskas who held off myriads of chasing Cadets and Radials in a round the island course in front of the clubhouse, and the highly prized crews race was taken by Rhona Enkel who held off all challengers as various boats tried to claw things back after some premature starts.

That was it for the weekend and Monday saw things fall further behind schedule as the fickle breeze only allowed one rather short race for both fleets. Ethan Davey and Alex Enkel won in the Cadets from Hazel Whittle and Elodie Atkinson whilst Libby and Bea scored another race win in Silver Fleet. On Planet Radial Ben Warrington took the win from Cara Bland but that was it for the day as the wind wouldn't fill in and the younger crews took to messing about on the front of bobbing Radials while they all waited without success.

Waldringfield Cadet Week 2018 - photo © Neil Collingridge

On to the final day four races were run. Angus and Ed recovered from being buried deep in the first and looking like they might make heavy weather of the last day to score 2 seconds followed by two firsts. Lia and Mish started the day well enough but faded as proceedings went on finishing third overall whilst Kate and Rhona scoring 4,1,2,2 on the final day moved up to second overall. Daisy Nunn and Oscar Bush survived a potential protest to take a race win and move into the top 5 just behind Hazel and Sofie Simpson/ Elodie Atkinson.

Mention has to be made of Amelia Mayhew and Henny Walker in Silver Fleet scoring 2,1,1,1 in Silver Fleet for the day but in the final race leading all the gold fleet around the windward mark for two laps and picking up the shifts on the last leg to put Angus and Ed under pressure for the race win. Would Amelia's former helm yield to the pressure and let her take the win? There are of course limits to gentlemanly conduct (the hell he would) but a third in gold and silver at the finish nevertheless brought a roar of approval from the rescue fleet. This was sufficient to win Silver fleet overall but only on countback from Libby and Bea.

Waldringfield Cadet Week 2018 - photo © Neil Collingridge

So finally over to the Radials. The first race of the day saw Archie and Hattie tangle at the last mark with turns being required and Alex Bell Jones taking the race win with Katie Spark second. As it turned out both the leading two discarded this race from their scores and with Hattie taking 2 firsts from the races which followed all was nicely poised for a final race showdown until Hattie's mainsheet knot pulled through to gift the overall win to Archie by just a couple of points on the final race. Ben Warrington finished 3rd with Faye Chatterton 4th overall.

Waldringfield Cadet Week 2018 - photo © Neil Collingridge

Another Cadet Week finished then. The unique formula of this week continues to be a big attraction providing close racing and coaching for the less experienced - a combination of serious racing with fun and games for sailors and parents alike. A final big thanks to the Cadet Squadron's generous sponsors Gill, Harken, Seamark Nunn and Vetplus without whom the fantastic prize giving would be much diminished and to Squadron Leader Jamie Whittle who worked tirelessly from start to finish. Local boatbuilder Synergy Marine know their way into the hearts of the sailors providing an ice cream per sailor per day! Book now for next year to avoid disappointment. For those who can't wait that long, fear not - the 2018 Cadet National Championship kicks off from 24th to 28th August at Thorpe Bay... another belter in prospect!

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