RS Feva Open at Bough Beech Sailing Club

Medium-sized Kentish sailing club attempts to impersonate Welsh National Sailing Academy; doesn't quite manage it. Bough Beech did its level best to masquerade as Plas Heli on Saturday the 9th of May, running a series of six windward-leeward races to warm up for the RS Feva Nationals at the end of the month.

The sun was out and the reservoir is still 95% full of water: all the twenty-three entrants needed was a due-southerly so that we could get a large-scale course to practice on. The reservoir is a mile long, you know.

Bough Beech Feva Open - photo © Jonny Moss

So, naturally, Bough served up a north-easterly. The race committee and mark-layers set the biggest windward-leeward-with-gate possible, and hoped that the shifts would be kept to a minimum. The first two races were unsettled affairs, with huge gains and losses to be made.

With full apologies for using technical terms, the wind had 'gone all wobbly' by the end of the second race, so the fleet took an early lunch break in the hope that it would settle down while provisions were taken onboard. Sevenoaks School sailors PG and Giacomo carried on as they'd left off before lunch and took the win overall with three bullets and a second place to count.

Bough Beech Feva Open Prize Giving - photo © Jonny Moss

Home sailors Edie and George, usually seen sailing a 420 and a Snipe respectively, did very well to finish two points behind in second overall using a club boat and sails that are older than they are. The podium was rounded out by another Sevenoaks School pairing, Felix and Reuben.

For visiting youth sailors, Bough Beech hosts an ILCA open on 30th of May, a Youth and Junior handicap open on the 19th of September, and a Firefly open on the 14th of November. Come sailing with us.

Overall Results: