International Cadet Class State Championships 2014

by Chris Furey on 13 Mar 2014 The past Labour Day long weekend saw thirty-two Cadets travel from their Melbourne and Geelong bay side clubs to join with five local crews on the beautiful waters of Bancroft Bay on the Gippsland Lakes for the 2014 International Cadet Class Victorian State Championship. The event was conducted by Metung Yacht Club with assistance from Royal Geelong Yacht Club, Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and Sandringham Yacht Club volunteers, all working together to ensure the smooth running of the event for the smaller regional yacht club.

The International Cadet is a two-person dinghy for junior sailors up to the age of 17 and is the only ISAF endorsed junior two-handed class. Crews are all male, all female or mixed and this year saw as many girls sailing as boys; surely a healthy sign for the sport. The boats are equipped with mainsail, jib and spinnaker ensuring the junior sailors are well versed in trimming all three sails. International Cadets are sailed competitively in many countries around the world with sail numbers rapidly approaching 10,000!

Racing for the 2014 Victorian Championship was conducted around a triangle with windward and return legs course and the strong currents found on the Gippsland Lakes tested many of the sailors not used to sailing in such conditions. Finding lay lines and rounding marks in the strong current proved challenging for many but by the end of the regatta most had mastered the tricky conditions.

Weather conditions across the three day event were warm and sunny with smooth seas on the Lake.

The Regatta started with fresh winds on Saturday, building to nearly 30 knots which saw a few capsizes and brought racing for the day to an early end with two races completed.

There was less wind on Sunday allowing for two light air races in the morning and two with more breeze to around 10 knots after the on-shore lunch break during which the traditional massed competitor photos were taken in front of the host yacht club.

Monday was to see several abortive attempts at getting racing under way in the morning followed by a lengthy wait for the new breeze which arrived exactly one minute before the noon deadline Race Officer Steve Aulich had set to call off the days sailing. Two highly competitive races were then sailed in eight - ten knots to conclude the 2014 State Championship.

A feature of the event was the number of hard fought, closely grouped mark roundings. The thirty seven competing yachts made a spectacular sight as they beat upwind, then reached and ran under brightly coloured spinnakers against the stunning scenic backdrop of the Gippsland Lakes and its pristine shoreline.

There were many excellent performances across the fleet this year but none more impressive than the clean sweep of eight straight race wins by current International Cadet Australian (National) Champions Thomas (skipper) and Sophie (crew) Alexander sailing 'Checkmate' to take out the 2014 Victorian Championship. Thomas and Sophie won some races by quite large margins while in other races, they showed an uncanny ability to claw their way back to the front from seemingly impossible situations, deep in the fleet. One race saw them recover from 17th place early in the race, working their way through the fleet to finally pass their last competitor only metres from the finishing line to take yet another win. It’s surely flattering to have to drop a first place score in an eight race, one drop series!

Runner up was 'Samaran', Julian Sasson (skipper) with first time crew Andy Sampson from Sandringham Yacht Club, who sailed consistently well in the variable conditions to recover from a DNF after they broke their rudder in the fresh conditions of Race Two.

In a close Third place, just two points behind 'Samaran' was 'It’s Pink' sailed by Emily Goodfellow (skipper) with Emma Kelly (crew) from Royal Geelong Yacht Club. The two minor places were only decided in the latter stages of the final race of the regatta.

The new State champions 'Checkmate', along with seven other qualified crews will compete for Australia in the 2014 International Cadet World Championships to be sailed at the 2012 Olympic Sailing venue at Weymouth, UK, in July.

Handicap results saw 'Jonathan L' RYCV, Louis Schofield (skipper) and Peter Allen (crew), emerge victorious from 'Goodness Gracious' SYC, Grace Endersbee (skipper) and Hannah Perryman (crew) in Second place with 'Resistance' RGYC, Oli Manton (skipper) and Ben Garner (crew) securing Third place.

It was particularly pleasing to see the big improvement in performance by the five crews from the host Metung Yacht Club who haven’t had the benefit of sailing in large Class fleets. The Cadet Class sponsored Coaches, Tony Bull and Pat Hutton, both spent extra time with the young Metung sailors improving their rig set up, boat handling techniques and racing skills to raise the level of the local fleet.

If you would like to know more about the International Cadet Class, Cadets for sale, crewing opportunities etc then please contact the ICCA National Secretary, Guy Schofield at guy.schofield@ericsson.com