GBR Cadet Team at the Cadet World Championship at Kyrinca Morska, Poland - Day 5
by Jamie Whittle 4 Aug 2019 21:51 BST
28 July - 4 August 2019
After two days off from racing, one due to lack of wind and one for the lay day, competitors arrived at the dinghy park refreshed and expectant of a good day on the water. The forecast this morning, very different from last night, was 9-10 knot north westerly building around lunch time and shifting around to the north.
The race officers as usual managed a 12 O'clock start as per previous days and set the World Team of on the outer loop of a trapezoid course, Hazel Whittle and Gwen Thorogood (9983) pushed left and Kali Terkleson and Pippa Smith (8352) went out right they reached the windward in 11th and 10th positions respectively. There were lots of opportunities to be had with the shifting wind, Lia Fletcher and Kali Karaskas (10012) and Phoebe Bradshaw and Rhona Enkel (10004) made up over 15 places. Of the GBR Cadets, Ethan Hughes and Alex Enkel (10051) maintained their position throughout the race and came 4th; Lia Fletcher and Kali Karaskas (10012) in 8th and Katie Yelland and Dom Rowell (10002) in 10th place.
The second race was slightly delayed due to resetting the windward mark and general recalls for the promotional fleets, which meant the World Fleet did the inner loop of the course and with a massive pin end bias. Some boats came out on top even with the difficult start, with a course change mid race the Australians finished 1st (9618), the Germans 2nd (9992) and GBR, Hazel Whittle and Gwen Thorogood (9983) 3rd. After the leaders, there was a huge pile up of Cadets at the 2nd leeward coming out on top from the GBR Team was Katie Yelland and Dom Rowell (10002) in 6th and Lia Fletcher and Kali Karaskas (10012) in 15th.
The final race of the day, race 9 of the Championship, started swiftly after the 2nd Promotional race of the day, again using the inner loop saw an impressive lead developed by an Argentinian, Polish and Russian Cadets by the first windward mark. The Polish Cadet 9902 eventually won, with the first GBR Cadet (9984) sailed by Ben Goult and Alex McEwan coming in 17th.
Find out more, including full results, at cadet2019.com
Promo fleet (report by Frank Thorogood)
Following the welcome break day on Friday, sailors arrived at the club on Saturday morning to a light but steady breeze and the promise of a full day of sailing.
The promotional fleet had to wait a while for the racing to materialise though; after the world team's regatta got off to a prompt race one, shifting winds in between starts meant that, following 3 APs, the promos didn't cross the line in earnest for another hour and a half.
Even then, 14 of the fleet were absent due to black flag infringements during the abortive starts, and the course had been changed to the outer trapezoid to avoid excessive contact with the world fleet.
GBR racers Daisy Nunn and Oscar Bush were straight into their stride however, rounding the first windward with a decent space of water between them and the Polish boat in second. Toby Bush and Kemmel Thorogood were the second GBR boat round in seventh and unusually on a shifty, unpredictable day of racing these positions remained until the finish. Sam Goult and Sarah Mcewan, and Olivia Gowland with Hettie Thorogood were the next GBR boats in 20th and 29th respectively, giving these top ten competitors the chance to use their discards to maximum effect.
Race 8 in the series was in sequence almost as soon as the final competitors had crossed the line. At the first windward GBR were dominating the top ten, with Daisy and Oscar, Tristan Whittle and James Bailey, Olivia and Hettie, Libby Bush and Amelia Mayhew all prominent. The all-girl teams managed to claw their way past Tristan and James by the finish, but all these GB pairings recorded solid top ten finishes.
The world team fleet were heading for well-earned tea and crumpets by the time race 9 in the promotional regatta got under way. Daisy and Oscar were under real pressure following a start which saw them entangle with the pin end and complete a 360; yet somehow from being 50 yards behind the fleet they emerged at 1st windward in 2nd place. The Polish sailor who had the lead at this point made no mistake in going on to complete a home victory, but Daisy held on to her miracle 2nd and with Toby and Kemmel in 3rd and Sam and Sarah in 5th, there came to an end another really strong performance for GBR in this promo fleet of 68 boats.