Junior Regatta at Bartley Sailing Club
by Simon Hardiman 14 May 2018 12:29 PDT
13 May 2018
Tom Williams wins the Bartley Junior Regatta © Kerry Webb
30 boats arrived from Olton Mere S.C., Barnt Green S.C., Shustoke S.C., Bartley S.C. and Midland S.C., on 13th May for the Midlands area Junior Regatta sponsored by Rockley Watersports and with event T-Shirts provided by Captain kid.
The forecast was sunnier than expected but with less wind making it pleasant for the spectators and a challenge for the competitors.
After a briefing by Race Officer John Ling the fleets launched for race 1. Tom Williams made an impressive start in his Laser pulling away from the fleet to get clear wind and maintaining first place throughout. The Optimist of William Moss spotted the pressure to the right hand side of the course and sailed a fantastic beat to reach the first mark ahead of many of the lasers who were covering each other off and slowing rapidly in the turbulent air. The Radials of Ed Rose and George Sunderland managed to pull away from the fleet as the race progressed with the final result for race 1 being Tom Williams, followed by William Moss, Ed Rose, and George Sunderland in a close 4th.
The fleet returned to shore, as the wind dropped further, for lunch provided by Denise and her team. The Rockley Watersports prize of a 2 day watersports voucher was raffled from the list of entrants with Megan Hardiman winning this fantastic prize awarded by AJ and Alex from Rockley.
The fleets returned to the water for race 2 and 3 back to back. The wind had shifted over lunch with streaks of pressure across the course giving large gains and losses to helms who picked the right line or sailed into a hole. As always though, the top flight read the conditions well with Tom Williams pulling ahead into the clear air. The conditions suited the Optimists in this race with William Moss taking the win from Tom Williams, and Brother Finlay Moss in 3rd closely followed by the Ed Rose in his Radial and William Cowley in the third Optimist.
The final race was won on the start line with George Sunderland finding his way to the pressure on the right hand side of the beat ahead of the fleet and pulling away to a convincing lead early on in his Laser radial. Tom Williams caught him on the water but not on handicap and William Moss picked up the 3rd in his Optimist. Ed Rose sailed to a consistent 4th place but George Sunderland's first place in the final race gave him just enough to push Ed to 4th overall after discards.
Thanks to all participant and parents for making the event a success and a huge thank you to all the helpers, in particular: John Ling and his race team, Denise and the Galley team, Ann and the registration team, and our sponsors Rockley and Captain kid.
Overall Results:
1st Tom Williams (Bartley Sailing Club)
2nd William Moss (Barnt Green Sailing Club) and winner of the under 11 Trophy
3rd George Sunderland (Olton Mere Sailing Club)
Laser
1 Tom Williams (Bartley)
2 Evan Base (Midland)
3 Freya Mason (Midland)
Laser Radial
1 George Sunderland (Olton Mere)
2 Ed Rose (Bartley)
3 Abigail Seaton (Olton Mere)
Laser 4.7
1 Megan Hardiman (Bartley)
2 Harrison Allen (Bartley)
3 Lia Holme (Barnt Green)
Optimist
1 William Moss (Barnt Green)
2 Finley Moss (Barnt Green)
3 William Cowley (Midland)
Laser Pico
1 Alex Cowen (Bartley)
2 Ed Sellers (Bartley)
3 William Naylor (Midland)
RS Tera
1 Freddie Sunderland (Olton Mere)
2 Millie Hardiman (Bartley)
3 Alex Barry (Bartley)
RS Feva
1 Jem Perry / Stella Nygard (Olton Mere)
2 Sean Ricketts / Cecily Webb (Bartley)
3 Alex Hughes / Lewis Ricketts (Bartley)