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RS Aero UK Youth Championship at Burghfield Sailing Club

by Nigel Rolfe 2 Nov 2020 06:29 GMT 30 October - 1 November 2020

The forecast was very windy and many events across the country were cancelled. With a suggested peak in the wind around midday we looked to get racing in early on Saturday and review at lunchtime.

The new balcony, modelled on the Yacht Club in Monaco, was in place and this created optimism on the weather which did not disappoint. The gusts were far lower than forecast topping out at a modest 26knts. The sun came out and if you closed your eyes you could easily imagine yourself overlooking the Mediterranean in the south of France!

Saturday was epic. Four races were completed before lunch with a further three in the afternoon. With 36 sailors the RS Aero 5 fleet was the popular rig choice due to a number of RS Aero 7 sailors downsizing due to the gales. We already had four separate winners including Oliver Meadowcroft, Jonathan Bailey, Cameron Sword and Ben Hutton-Penman. By the afternoon Ben had put his stake in the ground with two more bullets. Former world champion, Andrew Frost, got off to a slow start to the championship adding pressure to his later races.

On Sunday Ben had mixed results with some new names on the podium including Tom Ahleid and Ralph Neville. After twelve races Ben had done enough to secure the gold medal position and Frosty had pulled himself into silver. David Peaty, with probably the most consistent results, secured the bronze.

In the Juniors honours went to Tom Ahlheid with Abby Hire second and first Junior Female. Burghfield’s Joseph Jones was 3rd Junior. Ladies 2020 honours goes to Iona Willows with Abby Hire in second and Maisie Bristow third.

In the RS Aero 7 fleet, only two sailors remained to duke it out in the fresh breeze, so the match racing series was set and what a series! It was a race to the end as Tim Hire's upwind speed was more than matched by Chris Hatton's downwinds. In the final three Tim dominated to com back from behind to take the crown. It was like the Americas Cup in RS Aeros!

Overall it was a fantastic weekend and a pleasure to see such friendly, happy competitors at Burghfield. Well done to the race, safety and shore teams who did a fantastic job to get all 12 races in and the competitors all fed between and after races!

Many thanks to event supporters Rooster and Harken for the generous prize awards. GPS tracking was provided by Simon Lovesey of SailRacer which provided entertainment for the onshore support crews as well as the many online observers.

The 2021 RS Aero UK Youth Nationals is set for Torbay, Devon, hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club on 16-18th April 2021. Save the date!

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmClub (Category)R1 R2R3R4 R5R6 R7R8 R9R10R11 R12Pts
RS Aero 5
1st3200Ben Hutton‑Penman Hayling Island SC (Youth)5th17th12th1st1st1st3rd1st7th5th6th3rd33
2nd1312Andrew FrostSutton Bingham SC (Apprentice)9th5th7th5th4th5th1st4th5th4th1st7th41
3rd2966David Peaty Draycote WSC (Youth)3rd9th6th3rd8th3rd2nd2nd2nd11th3rd15th41
4th1047Oliver Meadowcroft Upper Thames SC (Youth)1st4th9th6th13th2nd4th6th10th1st8th6th47
5th3042Jonathan Bailey Grafham WSC (Youth)7th1st2nd9th5th17th8th3rd3rd8th11th4th50
6th1164Matthew Taylor Royal Mersey YC (Apprentice)2nd7th5th4th11th9th7th11th17th15th2nd2nd60
7th2105Leo Wilkinson Maidenhead SC (Youth)8th3rd8thOCS3rd4th9th5th9th2nd13th11th62
8th2077Tom Ahlheid Frensham Pond SC (Junior)14th2nd3rd10th10th7th10th17th1st6th9th5th63
9th1099Ralph Nevile Frensham Pond SC (Youth)6th11th4th19th2nd10th15th14thDNC14th5th1st82
10th1672Fergus Pye Draycote WSC (Youth)10th13th11th8th12th8th13th8th11th7th4th8th87
11th2356David Calder Burghfield SC (Youth)19th12th16th2nd9th18th6th10th16th9th17th10th107
12th2057Curtis McKay Queensmead SC/HOAC (Youth)11th10th17th13th6th12th17th12th15th3rd10th29th109
13th2071Sam Blaker Benfleet/Thorpe Bay YC (Youth)16th6th10th17th14th11th14th7th18th18th15th9th119
14th3127Fred Barry Warsash SC (Youth)17th21st15th7th7th6th5th13th19th25th16th23rd128
15th3330Iona Willows Dorchester SC (Apprentice/Lady)4th18th13th22nd16th16th19th9th8th19th20thDNC142
16th1533Ted Ball Draycote WSC (Youth)18th14th14th24th15th15th12th22nd22nd22nd12th12th156
17th1566Abby Hire Lymington Town SC (Junior/Lady)21st23rd19th15th18th14th21st16th21st13th14th17th168
18th2708Maisie Bristow Island Barn RSC (Youth/Lady)15th16th34th25th24th13th16th18th13th17th19th24th175
19th2214Yana Skvortsova Island Barn RSC (Youth/Lady)28th15th20th23rd30th29th29th20th6th12th26th16th195
20th1215Cameron Sword Queen Mary SC (Youth)13th8th1st16thDNC20th20th15th4thDNCDNCDNC197
21st8Joseph Jones Burghfield SC (Junior)33rd27th24th29th31st24th25th19th14th10th18th13th205
22nd1065Arthur Bailey Burghfield SC (Youth)23rd29th30th14th17th22nd24th25th30th16th24th14th209
23rd1181Mark Ripley Paignton SC (Junior)31st28th21st11th27th25th11th29th12th26th34th21st213
24th2195Joseph Blaker Benfleet/Thorpe Bay YC (Youth)24th22nd22nd18th19th23rd18th27th24th24th21st27th217
25th1502Elinor O'Leary Island Barn RSC (Youth/Lady)12th25thDNCDNC26th30th30th30th23rd21st7th19th225
26th3019Jake Faithfull South Caernarvonshire YC (Junior)26th19th23rd21st29th19th22nd23rd25th30th30th20th227
27th2841Nat Jones Leigh & Lowton SC (Youth)27thDNC28th12th22nd28th27th26th20th32nd22nd18th230
28th2505Tom Wharmby Lymington Town SC (Junior)25th24th27th28th21st26th26th24thOCS20th23rd32nd246
29th2929Elliot Toms Fowley Gallants SC (Youth)22nd31st18th31st23rd31st28th21st28th27th28th26th252
30th1705Kate Wharmby Lymington Town SC (Youth/Lady)OCS20th26th30th20th21st23rd28thOCS33rd29th31st263
31st1175Natasha Sion Lymington Town SC (Youth/Lady)20th26th25th27th32nd33rd32nd36th29th23rd25th22nd263
32nd3021Ollie Leeson Queen Mary SC (Junior)30th30th33rd20th28th34th33rd31st27th28th32nd25th286
33rd1135James SmaggasgaleQueensmead SC/HOAC (Youth)32nd32nd29th32nd25th32nd31st32nd31st29th27th30th298
34th3409Ben Throup Burghfield SC (Junior)29th33rd32nd26th33rd27th34th34th32nd35th31st33rd311
35th1587Charlie Howard Burghfield SC (Junior)34th35th31st33rd34th35th36th33rd26th31st33rd28th318
36th2147Harry Leeson Queen Mary SC (Junior)35th34thDNCDNC35th36th35th35th33rd34th35th34th348
RS Aero 7
1st2439Tim Hire Lymington Town SC (Youth)2nd2nd1st1st2nd1st1st2nd2nd1st1st1st13
2nd1590Chris Hatton Bowmoor SC (Apprentice)1st1st2nd2nd1st2nd2nd1st1st2nd2ndDNC15
3rd2147Harry LeesonQueen Mary SC (Junior)3rd3rdDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNC102

Junior = under 16, Youth = under 19, Apprentice = under 22
All ages are at 31st Dec 2020

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