Sea Cadets attend RS21 UK National Championships at Lymington Town Sailing Club

Sea Cadets attend RS21 UK National Championships at Lymington with their entire fleet of 10 boats © Howard Eeles

The Sea Cadets this year attempted to achieve something we had not achieved before as an organization and that was to attend the RS21 National championship with all ten RS21s from our fleet.

This was no easy task as the event being held at Lymington Town Sailing club, nowhere close to any Cadet accommodation so the tough choice was made to camp at Tile Barn Outdoor Centre in Brockenhurst. This was coupled with the fact that two boats had to come from Port Edgar, two from Portsmouth, two from the Midlands, two from London and two from Weymouth.

To be fair to our fellow competitors it was decided to hold pre-event training at the location, so this required safety boats to be brought in and extending the time at the venue by six days making it a ten-day experience for our cadets.

So, on the 27th of July, 30 cadets and 18 Volunteers descended on Brockenhurst to camp.

Sea Cadets attend RS21 UK National Championships at Lymington with their entire fleet of 10 boats - photo © Howard Eeles

The 29th of July was lovely but was spent launching and checking boats - then the weather appeared on the 30th and the 31st were too windy to go afloat. The 1st of August we got afloat for a re-familiarization for both the cadets and adult helms.

The 2nd of August saw the Captain of the Sea Cadets arrive and again we went afloat but first there was a master class alongside, from Caroline and Paul Fisk who very kindly offered their time up to give Their wisdom tips and tricks, which had the cadets listening intently and culminated in the cadets firing lots of questions at them.

The 3rd of August saw the start of the event with some very nervous cadets and volunteers, but I find it hard to put into words the immense sense of pride to see 10 of our boats get off the start line and not only that compete with the rest of the fleet upwind, and the smiles on both cadets and volunteers when back alongside.

Sea Cadets attend RS21 UK National Championships at Lymington with their entire fleet of 10 boats - photo © Howard Eeles

We achieved everything we set aimed to do despite everything thrown at us including the British weather

We do have many people to thank for supporting us and helping us give our young people an experience - the Sea Cadet Experience that they will never forget.

So, thank you to RS Sailing, RS21 Class association, Berthon / BHG, Lee Taylor without whose help and Knowledge this wouldn't have been possible to plan, Inshore Boating, Caroline and Paul Fisk, Lymington Town Sailing Club who made us feel so welcome.

Sea Cadets website: www.ms-sc.org

Sea Cadets attend RS21 UK National Championships at Lymington with their entire fleet of 10 boats - photo © Howard Eeles

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