Zhik National Cadet Class Spring Series at Grafham Water Sailing Club

by Neil Collingridge 9 May 2019 06:17 BST 4-5 May 2019

What an extraordinary weekend of weather Grafham Water served up as the last of the Spring Series to determine this summer's British Team for the 53rd Cadet World Championships in Poland. It's never a doddle to qualify to represent your country - nor should it be - but with 40 knot gusts hitting the fleet on Saturday and 40 degree shifts puzzling the sailors and frying their minds on Sunday this was an event straight out of the book of hard knocks.

After a delay for a couple of hours to let the worst of the weather pass through the fleet set out at lunchtime on Saturday to a start just left of the clubhouse with a long triangle sausage course set into the brisk cold Northerly wind. We could see huge bands of weather approaching from the top of the reservoir but the sailors were up for it as the sequence counted down. As the gun went so the big gust arrived - one boat dismasted with the unfortunate crew hit on the head as it fell; off to A&E for a check up - happily all OK, numerous boats over and helms and crews climbing onto upturned hulls and laughing at the chaos around them. The rescue fleet couldn't get everyone upright immediately but our protocol of checking for 2 heads with each boat swung into action like clockwork and it was soon clear that the vast majority were happy enough - many having a hoot!

Eventually with the regatta fleet safely ashore and various boat issues sorted out (including Katie Yelland's dismasted Cadet back out on course, albeit with a replacement crew) Arky our PRO managed to get the fleet away after a couple of false starts as the wind swung right and left with frustrating regularity. The wind was still blowing dogs off chains and the usual Twitter and Whatsapp updates went by the board as huge deluges of water hit sailors and rescue crews alike. Several boats took a bath flying spinnakers at great speed downwind and a gaggle of boats were disqualified for rounding the wrong mark at the bottom of the triangle but after 3 laps Hazel Whittle and Gwen Thorogood took the lead down the final run from Katie Yelland and Phoebe Barr with a barnstorming flat out 3 sailed plane from top to bottom demonstrating the benefit of sailing the rhumb line and so the shortest course. It was one of those "will they wont they make it" reaches where you felt disaster could strike at any moment - as indeed it did about 20m after they'd crossed the finish line. Yasmin Sfaxi and Matteo Mancini also mastered the conditions to finish in third.

After quite a long cold wait and some more attempts at getting a start away, the biggest blackest cloud of the day loomed over the horizon and a very good call was made to get everyone ashore quickly just as a huge 40 knot monster ripped through the fleet. It had been a long day on the water with only one race to show for the sailors' efforts but no one was complaining at getting in, showered and warmed up. Brutal!

Sunday was still cold and there was still decent breeze. An early start saw Arky looking to get 4 races in but the forecast was for the wind to die as the day progressed and with the 3rd discard for the Worlds qualifying series only due to kick in on the completion of the 4th race (race 15 in the series) those who had squandered their discards earlier on in the series were keen to get things going.

Race 2 of the weekend saw Cally Terkelsen and Pippa Smith master the snakes and ladders upwind the best to take a win from Olivia Gowland and Hettie Thorogood and Ethan Davey and Alex Enkel in third. There were big shifts and pressure differences across the course which unravelled the early leaders and saw some big place changes as the race progressed.The coached Regatta fleet was won by Tristan Whittle and Dom McArdle with Tom Walker and Ned Fairhurst second.

Race 3, more shifts, more snakes and ladders, more place changing plus some start line controversy where the general recall flag appeared to to raised momentarily only to be quickly replaced with an individual recall flag.....various requests for redress (subsequently granted) were to follow from those who returned, bore away or just took things easy for a few moments. Anyway the race saw a return to form from Lia Fletcher and Kali Karaskas winning from Cally and Pippa with the ever consistent Phoebe Bradshaw and Rhona Enkel in third. In regatta fleet no change in the leader positions - Tristan and Dom from Tom and Ned.

On to race 4 and positions were tightening up as we approached the business end of the qualifying series. This is the time when traditionally the pressure mounts and every position counts. That this was taking place against a failing wind and with massive shifts, holes and pressure differences just added to the obvious tension. Down the first reach and it was immediately apparent that the fleet had rejected anything like the usual pecking order - Hannah Carruthers and Libby Daunter rounded the windward first with Will and Tom Sheppard and Jess Watling and Lily Buckton as company. Only Phoebe and Rhona from the usual suspects were up with the leading bunch and many a World Team aspirant was struggling to make up ground from the back. After 3 rounds of topsy turvy position changing to a large part normal service had been resumed - Cally and Pippa in first followed by Phoebe and Rhona and Lia and Kali. No such drama in regatta fleet with Tristan and Dom again leading round from Tom and Ned.

By now the wind had started to pack up and go home - it probably felt it had given us our fair quota for the weekend and it wasn't its fault we hadn't used it to get our compliment of races in. A long tense wait to see what happened, some mental maths to work out some overall positions, and a few silent prayers from those for whom one final race and the extra discard would help, and surely some prayers also from those for whom it wouldn't. Arky our race officer is nothing if not tenacious and so after maybe half an hour's wait away they went again into a fickle breeze that seemed to have re-established itself albeit pretty feeble. This was watching paint dry - boats ghosting forwards - boats still in with an outside chance looking good at the windward and then plenty of place changes downwind... but alas the wind disappeared entirely up the second beat so the only fair outcome was to abandon - one or two boats were ever so close to the second windward where a shortened course would have been possible but virtually no one else would have been able to complete so it was a good call even if one or two were disappointed.

That was it for the sailing. Prize giving with generous gifts from Zhik followed the requests for redress and then the announcement of the 2019 GBR Cadet World Team:

• 8352 Cally Terkelsen and Pippa Smith
• 9983 Hazel Whittle and Gwen Thorogood
• 9984 Ben Goult and Alex McEwan
• 10002 Katie Yelland and Dom Rowell
• 10004 Phoebe Bradshaw and Rhona Enkel
• 10012 Lia Fletcher and Kali Karaskas
• 10051 Ethan Davey and Alex Enkel

They have worked hard for their places and we wish them all well in Poland this summer at the Worlds where the competition will no doubt be as tough as ever. Watch this space!

Overall Results:

Pos	Fleet	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	Pts
1st	Gold	10012	Lia Fletcher	Kali Karaskas	Waldringfield SC/Stone SC	5	3	1	1	10	1	1	1	1	1	(RET)	‑13	1	3	29
2nd	Gold	10004	Phoebe Bradshaw	Rhona Enkel	Frensham Pond SC/Maylandsea	6	6	‑11	‑7	2	4	4	3	2	3	4	7	3	2	46
3rd	Gold	8352	Cally Terkelsen	Pippa Smith	Stone SC	1	1	2	2	14	2	2	9	13	(OCS)	(DSQ)	1	2	1	50
4th	Gold	9983	Hazel Whittle	Gwen Thorogood	Waldringfield SC	2	8	5	6	1	‑11	7	‑13	4	9	1	8	RDG	8	64.7
5th	Gold	10002	Katie Yelland	Dom Rowell	Frensham Pond SC	7	‑11	‑14	3	8	6	6	2	8	7	2	9	4	4	66
6th	Gold	10051	Ethan Davey	Alex Enkel	Waldringfield SC/Maylandsea	10	‑12	6	4	9	5	3	(DSQ)	6	2	5	3	7	10	70
7th	Gold	9028	Elinor Watling	George Little	Frensham Pond SC	9	5	8	‑11	5	10	5	4	3	5	7	10	RDG	‑16	82
8th	Gold	9994	Daisy Nunn	Oscar Bush	Waldringfield SC	4	2	4	8	11	19	9	5	(DNF)	8	(RET)	4	6	6	86
9th	Gold	8420	Rosie Targett	Sophia Sfaxi	Frensham Pond SC	‑12	7	10	9	4	‑12	11	7	10	11	6	11	5	7	98
10th	Gold	9984	Ben Goult	Alex McEwan	Frensham Pond SC	13	9	‑21	5	16	7	8	8	7	4	(DSQ)	5	10	17	109
11th	Gold	9985	Olivia Gowland	Harriet Thorogood	Waldringfield SC	3	4	12	14	13	8	‑22	11	12	‑15	9	2	RDG	15	111.7
12th	Gold	9964	Yasmin Sfaxi	Matteo Mancini	Frensham Pond SC/Fishers Green	15	‑16	13	10	‑18	13	12	12	5	14	3	12	9	9	127
13th	Gold	9877	Hamish Collingridge	Robert Stewart	Waldringfield SC	‑20	20	3	12	(RET)	20	16	6	11	18	8	6	RDG	14	143.3
14th	Gold	9982	Charlotte Leigh	Tom Krailing	Waldringfield SC	11	17	9	17	15	9	‑21	15	9	6	(DSQ)	14	14	12	148
15th	Silver	10003	Libbie Bush	Imogen Mayhew	Waldringfield SC	14	‑21	20	20	17	15	10	17	15	10	(RET)	15	16	13	182
16th	Gold	9020	Jessica Watling	Lilly Buckton	Frensham Pond SC	17	DGA	16	15	19	‑21	14	16	20	20	(RET)	17	12	11	194.5
17th	Gold	10076	Hannah Carruthers	Libby Daunter	Frensham Pond SC	24	13	7	22	20	(UFD)	DGB	DGB	DGB	DGB	(DSQ)	20	18	5	205.8
18th	Gold	8845	Toby Slump	Emily Cullen	Frensham Pond SC	19	14	19	13	7	17	17	19	14	12	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	209
19th	Gold	10001	Toby Bush	Kemmel Thorogood	Waldringfield SC	21	18	15	18	6	16	15	18	(RET)	(DNC)	DSQ	18	DNC	DNC	232
20th	Silver	9027	Phoebe Barr	Brandon Barker	Royal Corinthian YC/Stone SC	18	15	22	(OCS)	12	3	(OCS)	OCS	18	17	DNC	24	OCS	22	238
21st	Gold	9378	Will Shepherd	Tom Shepherd	Frensham Pond	22	23	‑24	21	21	18	19	20	22	16	(DNC)	23	19	18	242
22nd	Gold	9977	Sam Goult	Elliot Chapman	Frensham Pond SC	16	22	17	16	(RET)	(DNC)	13	10	17	21	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	248
23rd	Gold	9962	Ollie Mears	Will Mears	Royal Corinthian YC	8	10	18	(OCS)	3	14	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	256
24th	Silver	9673	Alana Corbett	Monty Slump	Frensham Pond SC	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	20	21	19	22	10	16	21	19	264
25th	Silver	9321	Ines Green	Emilia Mayhew	Waldringfield SC	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	18	14	16	13	RET	22	17	21	266
26th	Silver	7202	Emilia Hampton	Jemima McMorris	South Cerney SC	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	23	22	21	19	DNC	19	22	20	291
27th	Silver	10032	Amelia Mayhew	Loulou Mayhew	Waldringfield SC	23	19	23	19	22	22	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	RET	DNC	DNC	DNC	302
28th	Silver	9576	Edward Fletcher	Charlie Bailey	Waldringfield SC	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	21	20	RET	331