Optimist Magic Marine Easter Regatta at WV Braassemermeer, Holland
by Sarah McGovern 6 Apr 2018 12:22 UTC
30 March - 2 April 2018
The Magic Marine Easter Regatta for Optimists was held early this year due to an early Easter, which made it particularly cold, with 70 hardy British sailors across the Main and Benjamin Fleet making the trip to Braassemermeer in Holland for the four-day event.
Twenty-six sailors made up the IOCA Team led by national coach Sarah McGovern, Tom Hayes and Alan Williams, who amongst them had 20 years of Brass experience. The team had training on Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday focusing on processes, mark mayhems in preparation for all the single leeward marks, shift work and starts - all commonly difficult areas at the Easter Regatta.
Friday quickly arrived, cold with a light easterly breeze. It was the first day of qualifying with tough racing. Sailors had to decide between a left shift in light wind on the left side vs more pressure and a header on starboard on the right side. Playing a side generally worked. Henry had a great opening day posting two top 10 results. Finlay Craigen showed lots of potential around the race track, only to be scuppered by the last beats. Some notable results were: Henry Heathcote (5,1,6), Mathias Potter (1,12,12), Ella Lance (8,10), Kuba Staite (5,2), Josh Lyttle (8,8), Saskia Levy-Dethmers (5), Oscar Morgan Harris (8), Sam Baker (10). We had some BFGs from Julia Staite and Matty Evans. Alastair Coombs sailed a fantastic race with a bullet only to find he was misfortunate with a BFG.
The second day of qualifying was forecasting a cyclonic 1-3 knots and it was very accurate. After a three-hour wait on the water looking at tacking, speed and riddles to keep brains engaged the yellow flight started a race. The wind quickly played games with a large right shift. The eager race officer started the blue flight in 0 knots only to abandon the race half way up the beat and send all the fleets home for the day. Some notable results from the yellow flight were Oscar Shilling (5), Will Martin (8). The coaches ventured over to Scheveningen in the evening to look around the venue for the 2018 Optimist European Championships.
Day three had more qualifying races. It was all about the shifts in a north-west 8 to 10 knots.
With bribery of waffles and chocolate eggs Henry posted a 4,1,1 to be the overnight leader. Oscar Morgan-Harris had a 3rd and a 1st only to find his number on the BFG board but a great race non-the-less. Josh Lyttle also had a cracking day posting a 10,1 and putting together a great series. The sailors were set a challenge to get a picture with the Easter bunnies on the committee boat. Millie Irish was the winner with a post on Twitter from the organisers. The Brits were racking up the top 10 finishes today: Mathias (9,2), Robert Mawdsley (8,7), Edward Coady (8,10), Kuba Staite (2), Rory Gifford (3), Hector Bennette (4), Hazel McDonnell (5), Ella Lance (5), Joey Taylor (5), James Gifford (6), Megan Farrer (7), Ollie James Mears (8), Alastair Coombs (8), Tamsin Green (8).
The final day had three races in Gold, Silver and Bronze fleet with finally enough wind to sit on the side, and for some to hike, in a north-east 4-12knots. It was a day of slower longer shifts where minimising leverage was the priority, with lots of compact mark roundings. Oliver Meadowcroft and Nick Evans suffered some place changes in the mayhem. Anna Utting had a solid day to finish 6th overall in Bronze Fleet, Arwen Fflur had a spectacular capsize, and Patrick Beukenholdt got the prize for the most BFG, four in total but good to see he was pushing the start line.
Notable scores on the doors were: Gold - Henry (6,9), Mathias (5); Silver - Edward (4,9), Tasmyn (9,5), Megan (4), George May (5), Finian Morris (8), Finlay Hartshorn (9); Bronze - Connor Kennedy (1,1,1), Laura Elms (2,3), Oli Master Maltby (2,9), Freddie Howarth (6,8), Katy Jenkins (3), Finn Evans (3), Freya Sewell (5), Abi Cowley (9)
After four days of racing and two of training the sailors had learnt a lot, focusing on their processes and routines, and we saw lots of team work from sailors and parents. Thank you to all the parents who helped out before and during the event, especially Dave and Clemency Evans for being our team co-ordinators.
The Benjamin Fleet had 14 GBR sailors. It was great to see the nippers getting some international experience. Big start lines meant they had lots of space to start in the 35-boat fleet.
Overall Egg Winners:
- Benjamin fleet - Emily Shonrock in 5th, Charlie Gatehouse in 4th
- Bronze Fleet - Freddie Howarth in 3rd, Laura Elms 1st
- Silver Fleet - Megan Farrer in 5th, Edward Coady in 4th
- Gold Fleet - Henry Heathcote 4th overall.
Well done to all the GBR sailors.
The next event for some is the OptiSprings Regatta in Holland this weekend and for the rest, the Optimist Team Selection Trials over the May bank holiday.