P&B Northampton Youth Series Round 4 at Banbury Sailing Club

by Norman Byrd 8 Jul 2024 15:44 BST 6 July 2024

Almost 40 sailors entered round 4, held at the picturesque Banbury Sailing Club. A few perhaps were put off by the forecast of strong winds, which almost materialised later in the day.

The focus of the day was clearly on enjoyment, this was made especially clear by Tim, our excellent race officer! Banbury is a pretty little club; the reservoir is aligned with its long axis North-South. The westerly wind caused a few moments of excitement during the day. The forecast couldn't really make its mind up, everything from sun cream to full waterproofs were needed for the shore teams.

Launching at Banbury can be a little exciting, no matter when Mum's such as Katie simply don their waders and seemingly live in the water for most of the day!

Head coach Rachel split the sailors up and the water was soon full of boats. The forecast held true with more moderate winds in the morning, building slightly as the training went on. More than a few boats took the opportunity to check how clean the bottoms of their boats were, perhaps the sails just needed a rinse..

Sarah, Ginetta and Rachel fed sailors and adults alike (an excellent sausage and pasta main with fruit and cake for dessert). Tim then briefed the sailors for the afternoon's racing. Sail the course (a figure of 8), avoid the fishermen, come back in smiling. The racing proved to be very exciting with several capsizes, significant shifts and bands of pressure moving across the course. The far bank gave excellent views of the racing and shelter from the odd rain cloud. It also afforded a good view of the fishing competition which looked pretty-straight forward with multiple anglers catching large glossy carp seemingly simultaneously.

The fast fleet started first, as is customary. Emily's starting practice was put to good use with excellent starts for all. The ILCAs took the top 3 spots in the first race after some close racing (Peter, Noah and Jasper) but Barnaby and Oliva in their Feva gave them a run for their money coming 4th. The next two races were won by Noah. Peter was second in both, with Aiyushi coming 3rd in the second race and Jasper third in the final race. The final race had a touch of the wacky races about it as several sailors capsized. Noah won the fast fleet, Peter was second, Jasper was third.

The topper fleet saw three different race winners. Alex won the first from Edward and William. The second was won by Oscar (who also won a capsize spot prize) from Alex and William. The final race was won by William from Alex and Oscar. The topper fleet enjoyed exciting nip and tuck racing where the races were often decided on the final leg.

The slow fleet was the largest, with a mixture of Teras of both sail sizes, optimists and topper 4.2s. Harry Ambery won the first race in his Tera pro, from Finn in his optimist and Joshua in his Tera sport. Finn then won the second, and the third races. Joshua was second in the second race from Harry Ambery and Harry Jarvis, Tera sport, who after handicap recorded exactly the same time! Joshua took another second in the final race from Harry Ambery in third. Finn won overall in the slow fleet from Harry Ambery and Joshua who were tied on 4 points, Harry came second from Joshua in third.

After another fantastic sailors' tea interest turned to the results, and perhaps the England game. 4 first timers were awarded their first time medal, Barnaby, Rose, Adam and Toby. Adam and Toby were also awarded first and second Banbury boats. The overall results featured a new overall winner. Alex in his topper took first place overall with 3 points. William came second, also in a Topper, and Noah in his ILCA 4 came third. Hollowell Sailing Club took the top two spots, with Draycote third. Three boats were tied on 5 points, it really was super close.

The next event is this coming Saturday at Northampton Sailing Club, see their web page for entry details. The series has gone from strength to strength this year with much greater numbers of entries at all events. The series is open to all junior sailors, not just the "home" clubs. Thanks as ever to head coach Rachel, the RYA, and Pinnell and Bax. Banbury delivered an amazing day's sailing with a lovely tea for just £10, all coordinated by Graeme, thank you so much!

Overall Results:

Pos	Fleet	HelmAgeGroup	Class	Sail No	Rating	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	Topper Fleet	14	Topper	46512	1369	Alex Stainton		Hollowell SC	1	‑3	2	3
2nd	Topper Fleet	13	Topper	46770	1369	William Clarke		Hollowell SC	‑4	4	1	5
3rd	Fast Fleet	17	Laser 4.7	208933	1213	Noah Byrd		Draycote Water Sailing Club	‑10	1	4	5
4th	Topper Fleet	14	Topper	48672	1369	Oscar Rowe		Draycote Water Sailing Club	‑7	2	3	5
5th	Topper Fleet	13	Topper	44437	1369	Edward Croxton		Hollowell SC	2	5	‑6	7
6th	Fast Fleet	16	Laser Radial	187480	1154	Peter Astley		Draycote Water Sailing Club	5	‑6	5	10
7th	Slow fleet	13	Optimist	5556	1628	Finn Neal		Hollowell SC	6	‑7	7	13
8th	Slow fleet	14	Tera Pro	743	1364	Harry Ambery		Cransley Sailing Club	3	‑14	11	14
9th	Slow fleet	13	Tera Sport	4547	1445	Joshua Gillson		MNSC	8	8	‑9	16
10th	Topper Fleet	12	Topper	48535	1369	Tom Moriarty		Draycote Water Sailing Club	12	‑18	8	20
11th	Fast Fleet	15	Laser Radial	204914	1154	Jasper Nicholls		Draycote Water Sailing Club	‑11	10	10	20
12th	Fast Fleet	14	Laser 4.7	144923	1213	Aiyushi Modha		Cransley Sailing Club	‑16	9	14	23
13th	Topper Fleet	12	Topper	46370	1369	Fredrick Seddon		Draycote Water Sailing Club	‑17	13	12	25
14th	Topper Fleet	11	Topper	45187	1369	Thomas Croxton		Hollowell SC	9	17	(DNC)	26
15th	Fast Fleet	18	Laser Radial	190904	1154	Solomon Day		MNSC	15	11	(DNC)	26
16th	Fast Fleet	14	Laser Radial	179731	1154	Henry Byrd		Draycote Water Sailing Club	‑18	12	17	29
17th	Slow fleet	13	Optimist	3956	1628	Henry Martin		Trearrdur Bay	‑23	16	13	29
18th	Slow fleet	14	Tera Sport	4540	1445	Harry Jarvis		MNSC	‑33	15	15	30
19th	Slow fleet	12	Topper 4.2	Y65	1425	Elizabeth Stainton		Hollowell SC	13.5	‑23	19	32.5
20th	Fast Fleet	14	RS Feva XL	1883	1244	Barnaby Butcher	Olivia Joyce	Northampton	13.5	21	(DNC)	34.5
21st	Slow fleet	13	Topper 4.2	16	1425	Adam Eady		Banbury Sailing Club	‑21	19	18	37
22nd	Fast Fleet	17	Laser 4.7	111	1213	Matilda Guyett		Cransley Sailing Club	20	20	(DNC)	40
23rd	Topper Fleet	14	Topper	26626	1369	Nathanial Zurek		Northampton	19	‑22	22	41
24th	Slow fleet	13	Topper 4.2	11	1425	Toby Cooke		Banbury Sailing Club	22	‑29	20	42
25th	Slow fleet	11	Topper 4.2	46927	1425	Audrey Yang		Draycote Water Sailing Club	28	‑31	16	44
26th	Topper Fleet	14	Topper	42867	1369	Oliver Gover		Northampton	‑29	26	21	47
27th	Slow fleet	12	Tera Sport	II (Roman numeral 2)	1445	Athena Trollinger		MNSC	25	24	(DNC)	49
28th	Topper Fleet	14	Topper	6	1369	Evelyn Parkinson		Northampton	27	‑28	23	50
29th	Slow fleet	12	Tera Sport	4541	1445	Arianne Leather		MNSC	24	27	(DNC)	51
30th	Fast Fleet	12	Fusion	1	1280	Nadia Zurek	Annaabel Lenton	Northampton	30	25	(DNC)	55
31st	Slow fleet	14	Tera Sport	No Number	1445	Jameson Tollinger		MNSC	26	30	(DNC)	56
32nd	Slow fleet	10	Topper 4.2	677	1425	Eleanor Clarke		Hollowell SC	31	32	(DNC)	63
33rd	Fast Fleet	11	RS Feva XL	3588	1244	Rose Butcher	Evey Kennard	Northampton	32	RET	(DNC)	66
34th	Slow fleet	11	Tera Sport	5	1445	Emmeline Astley		Draycote Water Sailing Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	72
34th	Fast Fleet	16	Laser Radial	12	1154	Gaston Bouchaud		Northampton	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	72