Cadet Open Meeting at Tamesis SC

by Tamesis SC on 17 May 2012 The Cadet Open Meeting was held at Tamesis Sailing Club on Saturday 12th May 2012. Alex Corby and Rob Keen of Fishers Green SC won the Munster Cup at the Cadet open meeting after a closely fought contest that went right to the last of the three races. Sailing Whitestuff (9000) they beat Jack Hardie and Megan Ferguson from Frensham Pond SC, who were second jn Di Maggio (8513) and Henry Marsh and Fredrick Collins of the Royal Lymington YC, who were third, sailing Nitro (9240).

Competitors were greeted with a gloriously sunny day, a gusty force 3 northerly running straight up the river and some very good bacon sandwiches. The weeks of rain had also provided an additional hazard with the Thames running about 3-4 knots of stream.

Despite the strong stream the fleet got away cleanly in the first race with Jodok and Constantin Gerber of Tamesis first round the first mark. The fleet bunched on the long run against the stream and Alex Corby and Rob Keen finally broke away to lead round the leeward mark and held this all the way to the finish, closely followed by Henry Marsh and Fredrick Collins in second and Jodok and Constantin in third.

After lunch, race two once again started cleanly. Alex and Rob soon emerged from the pack closely followed by Jack and Megan in second and Ross and John Thompson (Frensham) in third. These positions were maintained until the last lap when Alex and Rob had an incident with a boat they were lapping and were forced to do a 720, allowing Jack and Megan through to win the race by two boat lengths from Alex and Rob, with Ross and John in third.

This meant that going into the last race any one of three boats could win the event. Whoever from Alex and Rob, Jack and Megan and Henry and Fredrick won the last race would take home the cup. Leading away from the first mark were Henry and Fredrick with a good lead from Alex and Rob, with Jack and Megan in third. Slowly the two chasing boats closed the gap over the next couple of laps and going into the final leeward mark all three boats rounded together. On the short beat to the finish Alex and Rob managed to gain a slight advantage and crossed the line less than a boat length ahead of Jack and Megan, with Ross and John passing Henry and Fredrick in the final few yards to steal third.

Results:
1 Whitestuff (9000) Alex Corby and Rob Keen, Fishers Green SC 2 points
2 Di Maggio (8513) Jack Hardie and Megan Ferguson, Frensham Pond SC, 3 points
3 Nitro (9240) Henry Marsh and Fredrick Collins, Royal Lymington YC, 6 points
4 Get a Grip (9046) Ross and John Thompson, Frensham Pond SC, 6 points
5 Club Boat (6946) Jodok and Constantin Gerber, Tamesis, 7 points
6 Sci-Fi (9152) Lucy Corby and Jade McCarthy, Fishers Green SC, 11 Tamesis Sailing Club website