Cadet Nationals at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy Day 2

The 2006 Cadet Nationals continued at Portland Harbour with the 120 entries enjoying almost perfect racing conditions in a steady Westerly which fluctuated between 10 and 18 knots.

Two races were held for the 106 entries in the Gold and Silver fleets, whilst the 14 strong Regatta fleet enjoyed their opening race.

Gold and Silver - Race 3

The fleet started cleanly at the first attempt, with the bulk of the fleet favouring the left hand side of the course.

Tye Wichard and Ben Thame in Viper emerged as frontrunners, closely followed by Katrina and Christopher Brewer in Executrix. These two rounded the windward mark at the head of the fleet, closely pursued by Chris Proffitt and Hannah Muskett in No Fear, Chris Videlo and Maddie Harris in Mostly Harmless, Miles Blaver-Mann and Ole Alcock in Pulling Power, and Phillipa Horne and Anna Whitford in Purple Ronnie.

On the first reach, Executrix managed to overhaul Viper, and together, they pulled away from the chasing pack. Tye and Ben were clearly not in the mood to accept second place without a fight, and for the remainder of the race, Viper pressed Executrix hard for the lead. However, the tactics of the Brewers were flawless, and Katrina and Christopher crossed the finishing line 10 seconds ahead of Tye and Ben.

Meanwhile, there was a good deal of place changing in the following group. By the race’s midpoint, Kate Robinson and Sarah Lombard in Powered Up had worked themselves up to third place, which they held to the finish. No Fear and Pulling Power eventually established themselves in fourth and fifth places, whilst Ed Impey and Jack Wilson in Touch Wood held off some strong challenges to hold on to sixth.

Gold and Silver Race 4

The fleet was champing at the bit at the start of race 4, and only got away at the third attempt. Five boats were black flagged and had to head to the boat park early.

The fleet was undecided as to which side of the beat was likely to pay. But mid way through this leg, Hamish Stone and Aaron Woolf in Gnat and Katrina and Christopher Brewer in Executrix, emerged as the leaders. Gnat rounded the first mark 10 seconds ahead of Executrix, and followed by Pintail (Josh Pistol and Elizabeth Halling), Genesis (Seb Balch and Emma Knott), Fantasy (Ben Cornish and Dominic Langdon), and Hi Velocity (Catherine Schuster-Bruce and Maria Jones).

By the wing mark, Pintail and Hypnosis (Peter Lawrence and Liam Pardy) had moved up into the leading group.

The deciding moment of the race took place on the next beat. Katrina and Christopher broke the loose cover of Hamish and Aaron. Showing impressive boat-speed and technique, the Brewers simply could not be stopped, and rounded the windward mark 15 seconds ahead of Hamish and Aaron.

After that, Executrix continued to pull away from Gnat, and by the finish, Katrina and Christopher were 30 seconds ahead of Hamish and Aaron.

Behind them, No Fear, Pintail, Genesis and Pintail were engaged in a tough battle. After a good number of place changes, they finished in this order, although the outcome was in doubt right up to the finishing line.

So, after 4 races, Executrix heads the fleet, five points ahead of Pulling Power. Gnat is in third place, Lady in Red (Amy Seabright and Katie Barr) fourth, No Fear in fifth, and Genesis in sixth.

However, there is still a long way to go in this championship, and the discard will no doubt introduce a few more changes to leaderboard!

Regatta – Race 1

After some high quality training from former National Champion Jodie Green, the Regatta fleet took to the water for their first race.

Many of the fleet’s newcomers to racing found the conditions a little tough, with plenty of capsizes and spills.

However, Duncan Yeabsley and Lauren Fry in Road Runner showed the rest of the fleet a clean pair of heels, and took the race ahead of Millie Alcock and Lizzie Perrins in Ice Blue, with Andrew Smith and Matthew Young in Lethal crossing the line in third place.