Derbyshire Youth Sailing series at Ogston Sailing Club
by Mike Haynes 10 Jul 2015 01:09 PDT
4 July 2015
Derbyshire Youth Sailing series at Ogston © Mike Haynes
Ogston Sailing Club hosted the fifth of the 2015 Derbyshire Youth Sailing Series events and provided another shoot-out between the leading sailors in the series, as well as some close battles further back in the fleet.
Fifteen young sailors arrived at the club to find a heavy mist in place and the breeze yet to establish itself across the reservoir but as they rigged and then changed, the forecasted wind arrived too and cleared the mist away, leaving good racing conditions ready to use. The first race saw two Carsington Sailing Club sailors take the win and 2nd place with Toby Woodings in his Laser full rig ahead of Daniel Wellbourn Hesp in his Optimist. Third place went to home sailor Roscoe Martin in his RS Tera Pro.
As usual with multiclass racing, the race result is calculated from the corrected lap times of the competitors, such that, on the water the order looks a lot different than it actually is. A break for lunch allowed the sailors to see how they had fared in the first race with the corrected results but then they headed out for two more races back to back knowing that what they need to do is sail to the best of their ability in the conditions they experience.
The wind stayed moderately brisk for two more races and once again it was a switch around at the front for the second race with local knowledge bringing Roscoe Martin home in first place followed by Daniel and then Thomas Woodings, brother of Toby and also a Carsington SC sailor, in his Laser Radial. Toby had a DNF for this race which opened up an opportunity for the others.
The third race got underway with Toby back to race again and he sailed well to come in second this time, behind his brother Thomas, who won the third race, whilst following the brothers in third place was Roscoe Martin. With the days' race results entered into the computer, the application of the tie break was hard at work as it had to split the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places that were all on 4 points after the one race discard was applied. Toby Woodings had a slender one point lead to take the event win with his brother Thomas in second, Roscoe Martin in third and Daniel Wellbourn Hesp in fourth.
The tie break was also needed for the Topper sailors, placed in 9th to 12th, to put them in order, with Lee Howard of Ogston ahead of Josh Appleton of Carsington and then came Ruby Tomlinson and Birtie, West, both of Ogston SC.
Full race results will appear online at www.dysailing.org/results_category/2015 shortly.
Toby Woodings noted "The wind was really shifty today and it made it all the more tense as we raced and did our best to be ahead of the other boats. We had a great day's racing and thanks to the Race Officer and the rescue crews, as well as the galley, results and other busy volunteers, everyone really enjoyed the event".
Melissa Wellbourn Hesp, Chair of DYS observed, "The event today at Ogston Sailing Club provided yet another close contest and shows the keen competition right through the fleet with every sailor working hard and having fun doing their best. The weather played its part and we're really grateful to Ogston's members for their efforts for the young sailors. It was good to see some more new faces entering the event for their first go at a DYS series competition and we're hoping they'll be joining in again at the remaining events of the season and again in the future as their racing sailing skills develop".
Derbyshire Youth Sailing events provide a great, fun opportunity for youth sailors from any of the ten sailing clubs in Derbyshire to compete together and learn from each other to take their racing sailing onto the next stages. Novice youth racers aged from 6 to 18 are welcome to come along and give it a go. Supportive coaching can be provided to those sailors at the back of the fleet to help keep them in reach of the rest and allow them to develop their skills. In time, the novices soon gain experience and will one day be challenging the front runners.
For more information regarding Derbyshire Youth Sailing please go to our Derbyshire Youth Sailing website www.dysailing.org or you can also visit the National Schools Sailing Association www.nssa.org.uk or the Royal Yachting Association www.rya.org.uk with both of which DYS is affiliated.