Please select your home edition
Edition
RYA Membership

Rutland team win first RYA Winter Match Racing qualifier of 2023

by Paula Irish 16 Jan 2023 15:38 GMT
RYA Winter Match Racing Series Qualifier 1 at Queen Mary SC © RYA

Practice makes perfect for club with RS21s thanks to John Merricks Sailing Trust

The first qualifier of the 2023 RYA Winter Match Racing Series was claimed by a team from Rutland Sailing Club skippered by Ben Tylecote.

Tylecote along with brother Jamie, Freya Pembery and Terry Hacker, were crowned RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Champions and claimed the Under-19s trophy last September.

With a bit of help from dad Steve Tylecote on main, and Dylan Beatty standing in for Terry, the same young sailors from Rutland SC have now won their first-ever national match racing series qualifier over a breezy weekend at London’s Queen Mary SC, 14-15 January 2023.

The sell-out event saw nine teams competing in RS21s, with a delay on day one until the wind eased sufficiently to allow racing. An action-packed day with six flights was then completed, with the breezy conditions testing boat handling skills for an exciting round robin series.

This included an encounter between Tylecote and Ted Blowers, which resulted in a black flag for the Rutland team. Blowers claimed a straight eight wins to top the leaderboard at the conclusion of the round robin series with close rival Tylecote in second after losing only to Blowers.

Teams competing in the #rockupandrace event included a mix of established regulars from the match racing circuit such as Blowers and also newer teams, including from Ireland, who benefited from coaching support provided by experienced match racer Sophie Otter.

Day two started on time and with the conditions having moderated it was possible to complete the full published schedule of racing. In the semi-finals, Patrick Croghan's team claimed their spot in the final with a 2:1 win over Blowers, while Tylecote took a 2:0 win over Tom Williams.

In the Petit Final, Blowers - sailing with Owen Bowerman, Amy Sparks and Fraser Woodley - took 2:0 for third overall against Williams and his team of Emily Wiltshire, Matt Venables and Ed Jones.

Tylecote's team meanwhile continued their form in the final, claiming overall victory after winning 2:0 from Croghan and co, Hebe Hemming, Tom Goodbourn, Hannah Croghan and James Witts.

Find the full breakdown of results here.

Winning ways

Winning skipper Ben Tylecote said: "We had a whole range of wind, mainly on the strong end of things, but in the finals we definitely had some light stuff. It was such a great experience. There were a lot of teams we haven't actually sailed against before and learning from them and the people who've done a bit of international match racing was amazing.

"This was our first match racing qualifier, so we're amazed to come away winning it really. We're definitely still learning so we're just taking confidence from this and hopefully doing more match racing in the future."

Ben added that the team had benefited from being able to get on the water together thanks to funding from the John Merricks Sailing Trust, which enabled their home club Rutland SC to acquire two RS21 keelboats: "We've been out quite a few times now and getting the whole gang at Rutland into them is awesome and it allows us to do a lot more practise which has definitely helped us."

For race officer David Campbell-James, the first qualifier of the year at Queen Mary SC was an enjoyable return to the club where he introduced winter match racing some years ago.

He recalled: "We did a lot of arranging of bringing the teams in and a lot of top teams came, and we had a women's weekend when I think eight of the top 10 came, so it was great for our sailors and helped them improve their rankings which meant they could go to events abroad, and it was great for our officials as well, so it's great to come back here after all this time!"

Next up in the 2023 #rockupandrace series is the Women's Winter Match Racing event in Elliott 6Ms at WPNSA, 4-5 February, followed a week later at the same venue by the rescheduled 2022 RYA Marlow Ropes Women's Match Racing Championships, 11-12 February.

Further information and entry for all upcoming events is available at www.ryamatchracing.co.uk

Related Articles

Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club overal
Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy team claimed a decisive victory French match racing skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy team claimed a decisive victory on Saturday at the 2025 Casa Vela Cup, held in the iconic waters of San Francisco Bay and hosted by the St.Francis Yacht Club. Posted on 1 Jun
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 3
Pauline Courtois will meet Nicole Breault in the final Defending women's match racing world champion Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite team from France will meet USA's Nicole Breault/ Vela Racing in the final of the 2025 Casa Vela Cup in San Francisco. Posted on 31 May
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 2
Another flawless day for top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her team Another thrilling day of racing with top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team continuing their unbeaten streak with fifteen straight wins in the qualifying round robin stage, asserting a dominant lead. Posted on 30 May
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 1
San Francisco turns it on for opening day of Women's Match Racing The opening day of the Casa Vela Cup 2025 hosted by the St Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco kicked off the 2025 Women's World Match Racing Tour in spectacular fashion with ten of the world's top all-female match racing teams Posted on 29 May
Int'l Youth Match Racing Champs dates released
RPAYC announce the dates for the 2025 Harken International Youth Match Racing Championship RPAYC is pleased to announce the dates for the 2025 HARKEN International Youth Match Racing Championship, with the 31st edition set to again be conducted on the beautiful waters of Pittwater, scheduled to occur 19 to 23 November 2025. Posted on 21 May
WMRT adds first ever Ireland stage
Dublin Match Cup joins the 2025 tour season as a tier 2 world tour event The World Match Racing Tour is pleased to announce the addition of its first ever tour stage in Ireland with the launch of the Dublin Match Cup. Posted on 16 May
Monnin Victorious in 60th Congressional Cup
Defeating defending champion Chris Poole 3-2 in a closely contested final Switzerland's Eric Monnin and his Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team of Ute Monnin Wagner, Mathieu Renault, Jean-Claude Monnin, Simon Brügger, Julien Falxa, and Maxime Mesnil clinched a long awaited win of the 60th Anniversary Congressional Cup on Sunday. Posted on 5 May
60th Anniversary Congressional Cup Day 4
High-stakes racing on the penultimate day Light airs and overcast conditions brought high-stakes racing to the penultimate day of the 60th Congressional Cup in Long Beach as the final four teams advanced to the semi-finals. Posted on 4 May
60th Anniversary Congressional Cup Day 3
Crucial races to decide Semi-Finalists The race to the semi-finals at the 60th Long Beach Yacht Club Congressional Cup is going down to the wire. With just two flights remaining in the double round robin stage, four teams are locked in a high-stakes battle for the final semi-final slots. Posted on 3 May
60th Anniversary Congressional Cup Day 2
Monnin in the hunt for semi-final spot Switzerland's Eric Monnin and his Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team delivered a faultless performance today, the second day of the 60th Long Beach Yacht Club Congressional Cup. Posted on 2 May