Isle of Wight Youth and Junior Dinghy Championship 2021
by Steve Sheridan 23 Jun 07:22 BST
6 June 2021
Isle of Wight Youth & Junior Dinghy Championship 2021 © Steve Sheridan
Royal Victoria Yacht Cub welcomed 24 Teras and 11 Lasers (ILCAs) on Sunday 6 June for the first event in a new series bringing together youth sailors from clubs on the Isle of Wight.
After months of Zoom meetings, the day of the first event finally arrived although there was not much sign of breeze. The aim was to run three short races for each fleet and the race team were relieved that a 5 knot South-Westerly breeze soon established off Wootton Creek.
Competitors were escorted past the Wightlink Ferry channel and the first race started on time at 1000. The race team kept the first race short, fearful that the breeze may fade. Local sailor Noah Evans won the ILCA 6 class, closely followed by twin brother Finn then Kristian Schafer from Brading Haven. Freddie Death took the ILCA 4 race from David Robinson. Sam Osborne took honours in Tera Pro from Ruby Sunderland and Ben Anderson (both from Gurnard). In the Tera Sport class, Samuel Leather, Oliver Smith and Will Bradley, all from Gurnard made up the top three. In the coached fleet for novice racers, Cass Day took race 1, Rafe Bradley second and Rupert King third, all from Gurnard.
Race Two started ahead of schedule, at 1045, and the wind started to fade as feared. Some racers finished the course set but others were given places based on positions using the Whisky flag. The fleet of RIBs did a fantastic job in stopping the sailors from being swept too far towards Cowes and then the weather gods gave us a reprieve as an Easterly breeze sprung up which was just strong enough for the crack race mark team to reset the course and run race three. Competitors had to be off the water by 1330 to avoid the mud of low tide so it was fortunate that both wind and tide kept competitors back from the line.
Competitors weren't phased by this change of direction and all figured out which buoy was which (eventually). The final rankings were as follows:
ILCA 6
1. Kristian Schafer
2. Noah Evans
3. Finn Evans
ILCA 4
1. David Robinson
2. Freddie Death
Tera Pro
1. Sam Osborne
2. Ruby Sunderland
3. Tom Yates
Tera Sport
1. Samuel Leather
2. Oliver Smith
3. Maeve Hall
Tera Coached
1. Cass Day
2. Rafe Bradley
3. Harry O'Callaghan
Competitors then came ashore for a well-deserved BBQ and prize-giving took place on the lawn as the sun came out.
The next event is at Brading Haven on 30 July.