Zhik UK Cadet Class Inland Championship at Alton Water Sports Centre

For the UK Cadet Class the Inlands are traditionally held in the Autumn as the first of two selector events for much sought after places in the winter squads.

With some sailors exiting the class every year to transition into youth boats, the event often also sees a reshuffling of the pack as younger sailors start to find their feet, realise they can win the pin or fly a kite as fast as the next boat, and take huge strides forwards towards competing, unintimidated, on the level of some who've been around for slightly longer.

Zhik UK Cadet Inlands at Alton Water - photo © Tim Hampton / www.timhampton.uk

So it was that 35 boats competed at Alton Water in Suffolk with 27 in the main Silver/Gold fleet and 8 in the coached Regatta fleet. The sun shone virtually all weekend, only yielding to the rain after we were packed up and ready to leave on Sunday afternoon, and we had great breeze especially on Saturday where the direction more or less up and down the lake lent itself well to some good courses.

Race 1 in the main fleet kicked off with a big win for Olivia Gowland and Hettie Thorogood from Hamish Collingridge and Rhona Enkel in second whilst in Regatta fleet Sophia Sfaxi and Elliott Chapman took the win from Brandon Barker and Kali Karaskas. The trick was getting clean off the line and onto port tack quickly as the gusts seemed to be lifting up the left side of the track, but as some found to their cost, heading too far left meant wallowing in the wind shadow of the tree lined shore - everything in moderation then.

Zhik UK Cadet Inlands at Alton Water - photo © Tim Hampton / www.timhampton.uk

Role reversal for Race 2 with 12 year olds, Mish and Rhona sailing well clear of the chasing pack led home by Olivia and Hettie in second. In Regatta fleet Mish's former crew Robbie Stewart now crewed by Dylan McArdle got in on the act to take the win from Sophia and Elliott.

Race 3 saw Ethan Davey and Alex Enkel take their first win off the weekend outmanoeuvring Mish and Rhona in a gybing battle down the final run to the finish and in Regatta Fleet Sophia and Elliott consolidated their position at the top of the rankings with a second bullet, this time from Chloe Morgan and Emilia Mayhew.

Zhik UK Cadet Inlands at Alton Water - photo © Tim Hampton / www.timhampton.uk

With the warm sunshine and decent breeze PRO Arky resolved to get a 4th race in as the forecast for Sunday didn't look as favourable. Good decision as it turned out. National Champions, Daisy Nunn and Oscar Bush found their stride at last to extend away for a big win this time ahead of relative youngsters Ben Goult and Alex McEwan. Meanwhile in Regatta Fleet Chloe and Em were into their stride too to take the win from Brandon and Kali. It's notable that the Regatta fleet racing was tight with crowded start lines, many place changes and encouragingly (for them at least) front runners who were catching the back markers of the main fleet despite having started 5 minutes later.

Into Sunday, still a sunny day but with a bit less breeze and shifting to the right making it progressively harder to get a decent beat in on Alton Water. A windward mark up near the west shore and a pin end squashed in near the east bank wasn't ideal but was making the best of what was available. Race 5 saw Ethan and Alex take a big win ahead of Hannah Carruthers and George Cox Olliff which set things up tightly for the final race. In Regatta fleet it was back to Sophia and Elliott talking the win with Brandon and Kali second.

Zhik UK Cadet Inlands at Alton Water - photo © Tim Hampton / www.timhampton.uk

Mish and Rhona held a slender one point lead going into the final race but a pin end scrum saw them spat out the back up the first beat whilst Ethan and Alex having ducked a number of transoms to extricate themselves from the melee managed to find a big lift up the middle and come out well ahead at windward mark - a lead they held to the finish with Daisy and Oscar moving back through the fleet to secure second. That was enough to secure first overall for Ethan and Alex from Mish and Rhona. In Regatta fleet 2 more youngsters came to the fore with Brandon and Kali securing their first win ahead of Sophia and Elliott which left the latter pairing first overall and Brandon and Kali an encouraging second.

Prize-giving followed, sponsored once again by Zhik, and we were well packed up and ready to move on by mid afternoon. A big "Thank-you" to Alton Water too as they suspended their own racing for the weekend to make sure we could set good courses on the lake. A number of boats headed straight off to the Royal Corinthian at Burnham on Crouch where the RYA British Youth Sailing Regional Championships East 2019 (thats a mouth full and a half - can we still call it the East Zone Champs?) take place next weekend and where final squad places will be decided - the weather has finally broken into autumn and we look well set for a wet, breezy weekend at the spiritual home of the Cadet Class. Autumn is here. Was it at Burnham that the saying "you'll never forget your first Cadet" was first invented?

Overall Results: