Cambridgeshire Youth League event 2 at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Cambridgeshire Youth League event 2 at Grafham Water © Paul Sanwell / OPP

The second event of the 2023 Cambridgeshire Youth Sailing League was hosted by Grafham Water Sailing Club on Saturday 3rd June. The League is open to youth members of the five participating clubs: Cam, Ely, Grafham, Hunts and Paxton Sailing Clubs. Each club hosts an event in the league each year.

Bright and breezy conditions greeted the 18 local sailors and 11 visitors. Although the sun was shining, the north-easterly wind had a cold bite to it. Race Officer John Aston set a trapezoid course in front of the clubhouse which provided perfect viewing for the assembled supporters.

The first two fleets, consisting of an Optimist, an RS Tera and 14 Toppers, got away cleanly at 11:30, followed by the ILCA/Laser fleet with a mixture of ILCA6 and ILCA4 rigs. The action at the front of the ILCA fleet was keen, with local sailors Tim Evans and Dom Atherton battling for the lead closely followed by Adele Burbidge.

The Topper fleet was also hotly contested, with Robert Hole from Hunts, Kieran Vanhoutte from Ely and Keah Edward from Cam fighting it out at the front of the fleet.

After lunch, two more races were sailed back-to-back, with the same contenders in the ILCA and Topper fleets again leading the way. Special mention must go to 13 year old Thomas Matthews from Grafham, who has just moved into a full rig Topper from a 4.2, and led the Toppers over the line in race 3.

A jury boat made sure that there was good behaviour at the front of the fleet, while a coach boat encouraged the tail-enders around the course. For many of these, it was their first open event, or indeed race, and they all coped extremely well with the challenging conditions.

The final positions were combined into one set of overall handicap results and the event was won convincingly by Tim Evans from Grafham in an ILCA6, with two first places and discarding a second place. He was followed by Dom Atherton, also in a ILCA6, counting a second and third place. Third overall, and first under 15 was Robert Hole, who took first place on handicap in race 1. Kieran Vanhoutte was fourth and second under 15, with Thomas Matthews taking the third under 15 prize.

Robert Hole was the first Under-15 at Cambridgeshire Youth League event 2 at Grafham Water - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

Prizes for under 12 year-olds allowed recognition for those further down the placings, with Jashan Downs from Ely first and Mushui Zuo from Grafham second. The Endeavour prize was awarded to Fergus Marshall from Ely in a Topper and the prize for the youngest competitor went to 9 year-old Isabella Rooke from Grafham, sailing an RS Tera. Both of these are congratulated for managing to complete all three races.

The Team Prize was awarded to Grafham Water Sailing Club, with Adele, Tim, Dom and Thomas contributing their best results to the overall score. This puts Grafham in the lead in the team event, 46 points ahead of Cam. In the individual event, Adele Burbidge is currently in the lead, followed by Keah Edwards and Robert Hole.

The current overall situation in the Youth League can be viewed at: csysa.org.uk/youthleague/index.php/results

More photos of the event can be viewed at purchased at the Grafham Water Photo Gallery.

Tim Evans was overall winner of Cambridgeshire Youth League event 2 at Grafham Water - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

Grafham Water SC is based in Cambridgeshire and offers some of the best inland sailing in the country. The club is open to all classes of boat with strong fleets of Dart 15s, A-class catamarans, Lasers/ILCAs, Solos, D-Zeros, RSs and Flying Fifteens. For more information about the club please visit the website at www.grafham.org or call the club on 01480 810478. Follow the club on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pg/grafhamwatersc

Overall Results: