RHS Suffolk Shiver Team Racing at Alton Water
by Ed Sibson 29 Jan 16:40 GMT
20 January 2024
Nine school teams competed in the RHS Suffolk Shiver on 20th January 2024. The Suffolk Shiver is an inter-school 3 boat team racing competition sailed in Fireflys.
With a breezy forecast and incredibly cold temperatures, the race committee decided to race with cut down sails for the day, ensuring the competitors were able to stay in their boats, drier and slightly warmer than. The south westerly wind remained consistent throughout the day, providing challenging but manageable conditions that enabled a full race programme to be completed.
A full round robin was completed, enabling all teams to sail 8 races against the other competitors. At the end of this, Sevenoaks Red and RHS Blue came out on top, each with seven wins from their eight races. Tonbridge and RHS Grey completed the semi final line up with six wins each.
The first semi final saw RHS Grey triumph in the deciding race over Sevenoaks Red to win the semi final 2-1. The RHS Blue team won both tight races against Tonbridge in their semi final to setup an all RHS final. In the petit final, Sevenoaks Red recovered their form to secure third place with a 2-1 win over Tonbridge. The final was also resolved 2-1, showing how closely matched the top four teams were on the day, with the RHS Blue team emerging victorious.
All the schools attending provided staff on the water to help the event run smoothly. Our thanks go to them, Keith at kSail for his support with schedules, results and the on the water activity, and Anglian Water for use of their facilities and support on the day.