Festival of racing for North junior sailors and windsurfers

The 2021 North Regional Junior Championships at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club saw nearly 140 youngsters taking to the water for a festival of racing.

 

The event for the RYA North East and West regions was among 11 British Youth Sailing (BYS) regattas in total held across the country during September for junior sailors and windsurfers of all abilities from those just starting out to seasoned racers.

 

In total there were 121 junior sailors competing in the Championship and Regatta racing fleets at Derwent Reservoir SC plus 18 taking part in the OnBoard Fun Fleet.

 

Varied conditions ranging from winds of around 8 knots on Saturday through to 20 knots on the Sunday enabled all ages and abilities to get on the water to develop and test their skills, with four to five races for each class plus lots of OnBoard ‘games with aims’.

 

Chris Blackburn, RYA Regional Performance Manager for the North, said: “It was fantastic to see all of the sailors from across the North West and North East regions within the junior classes come together for some great racing at Derwent Reservoir. The sailors were challenged with a broad range of conditions and it was particularly pleasing to see a record entry in the regatta fleet of over 40 sailors, all having fun and developing their racing skills with the help of some of our region’s RYA coaches. I’d like to say a big thank you to Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club for hosting the championship and to all the competitors, parents and volunteers who supported the event.”

 

Host club Derwent Reservoir SC was delighted to win the Club Trophy for having the biggest team of sailors from the RYA North East region at the championships, with more than 20 junior sailors competing plus others in the OnBoard fleet.

 

David Shilling from the club’s youth and junior section said: “We had a lot of volunteers from the club supporting the regatta and it’s really nice that we had the largest number of entries in our region and won the Club Trophy. It was also lovely having the opportunity to work with volunteer experts from across the north to run a slick event.

 

“The club has a really strong junior section and some of the older ones were helping to run the racing. We’ve had a busy season at the club with lots of activities and training courses so it was great to see so many of our junior sailors enjoying taking part in the BYS Regional Junior Championships, including eight who started sailing with the club this year. We have a wonderful bunch of juniors and families coming through.”

 

Scaling Dam SC won the RYA North East Club Trophy for the largest growth in number of junior sailors taking part with a team of 14, up from 4 at the previous Regional Junior Championships, which due to last year’s North event being cancelled due to Covid restrictions took place in 2019.

 

For the RYA North West region, Ullswater YC was awarded the Club Trophy for having the largest team of juniors entered and also the trophy for having the largest growth in numbers competing, which saw its team grow from 12 in 2019 to 25 this year.

 

A special mention also goes to: Ripon SC for its entry, which increased from 14 to 21 sailors; Tynemouth SC, who weren’t represented in 2019 and had six sailors this year; and Budworth SC, with nine sailors taking part this year having previously had non in 2019.

 

Next year’s Regional Junior Championships will be moving to early summer as of 2022, with the aim of having warmer weather for competitors and longer evenings for social activities.

 

There were 79 entries across the Championship fleets for experienced racers, with a 17-strong Optimist fleet having an even split between boys and girls for the top six places. First overall was Ben Welfare (Leigh & Lowton) with Isobel Sandow (West Kirby) second overall and first girl. In third to sixth place were: Alanna Starkie (Derwent Reservoir),  Sebastian Nixon (West Kirby), Toby Waggett (Teesdale SWC/DRSC) and Olivia Coady (Derwent Reservoir).

 

The 37-entry Topper fleet likewise had a mixed top six with three girls and three boys claiming the top spots. First overall was Tom Moss (Scaling/Ripon) with Charlotte Cooper (West Lancashire) second overall and first girl. In third to sixth places were: Erin Young (Scaling Dam), Finley Waterhouse (Budworth), Lewis Bacon (Leigh & Lowton) and Ava Harris-scott (Elton).

 

The 11-boat RS Feva Championship fleet was won by Felix Stewart/ Zak Sanderson Davies (Windermere School) with Max Rawlinson. Edie Johnson (Roa Island/Windermere School) second overall and Emilia Kidd/Rebecca Green (Derwent Res) third.

 

Top three overall in the RS Tera Sport fleet of 14 entries were Matthew Knowles (Bolton), Matthew Somerville (Bassenthwaite) and Thomas Whitehead (Filey) with the top three girls places taken by a trio from Ullswater YC: Olivia Dembinska, Laia Priestley and Emily Burrage.

 

The Regatta fleet had 42 entries and the top three in each class were: Optimist: Harry Collis (Derwent Res), Oscar Manning (Ripon) and Mortimer Cain (Derwent Reservoir) third; RS Tera Sport: Molly Wilson (Filey), Zach Williamson (Ripon); Alara Cagatay (Windermere School), plus Reuben Dorey (Ullswater) and Isaac Lindley (Windermere School) second and third boys and Jessica Warner (Ullswater) third girl; Topper: Millie Hayfield (Hollingworth Lake); Finlay Cochrane (Ripon) and Grace Gordon(Scaling Dam), with Xavier Bramwell (Hollingworth Lake) and Fred Buckley (Yorkshire Dales) second and third boys and Annabel Hayfield (Hollingworth Lake) third girl.

 

Results from all of the Championship and Regatta racing fleets at Derwent Reservoir SC can be found here.

 

There was also a strong turnout for the BYS Windsurfing Regional Junior Championship at Glossop Sailing Club for the Midlands, North and Wales, attracting a record number of 55 youngsters taking part in championship and regatta fleet racing.

 

The one-day event saw four or five races for each racing fleet. The top three places for the 3.5 Blue Rig were Jasper Malik (Debdale Outdoor Centre), Luca Knowles (Glossop) and Izzy Fowles (West Kirby Warriors); and in the 3.5 Yellow Rig fleet, Edward Watson (Glossop); Tahir Mohammed (Burton) and Frank Hadgraft (Debdale Outdoor Centre).

 

Taking the podium spots in the other fleets, 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively, were: 4.5 Rig: Sam Freeman (Blithfield), Sofia Melovic (Glossop) and Owen Silcock (Glossop). 5.8 Rig: Rebecca Pilkington (Burton), Amelia Gay (Burton) and Adam Hoey (Kielder Water); 6.8 Rig: Katie Leeds (North Lincs & Humberside), Josh Freeman (Blithfield) and Sophie Williamson (West Kirby Warriors); 7.8 Rig: Oliver Cooper (West Kirby Warriors), Alex Thompson (Glossop) and Andrew Smitham (Glossop).

 

All the results for this event can be found here.