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P&B NSSCA Series Round 3 (and 2 and a bit of 1) at Banbury Sailing Club

by Norman Byrd 7 Jul 00:06 PDT 5 July 2025

Banbury Sailing Club was the location for round three of this year's series. Like our other home clubs, Banbury is set in lovely countryside. It's a few miles north of Banbury, but within easy reach of our sailors in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. The reservoir was a little lower than usual as it tops up the Oxford canal. The resultant sand bank sits proudly on the club side of the reservoir. At least one sailor thought they might claim it by running aground.

Head coach Clem had the sailors concentrating on tacking. As it was reasonably breezy, the fleet was split into three, beginners, intermediate and advanced. The sailors were then briefed in their groups as to the main aim of the day. Controlled steering and accurate mainsheet control? No, to have fun and enjoy yourself! Ned and Neil coached alongside Clem.

Banbury is reasonably sheltered by local hills and trees and in the main, it didn't look as windy as the forecast. Emily advised though that smaller rigs or reefing might be advisable for the afternoon races. It was all hands to the pumps launching the boats as the water had receded somewhat from where it was this time last year! An onshore breeze made life a little trickier but as ever, club helpers and parents in waders got everyone afloat. After a couple of hours training in surprisingly sunny weather, best ignore the forecast, the sailors came ashore for lunch.

After refueling, PRO Tim described the plan for the afternoon races. Three short back-to-back races. Same as usual, although we don't normally have a Le Mans style start to keep boats out of the way! More experienced sailors were asked to be considerate to less experienced sailors, and all racers were advised to look cheerful passing through the start/finish line on each lap!

As Emily had predicted, the breeze had increased enough for a few swims. Sailors that turtled probably spent the evening washing sails (I certainly did (washing that is!)).

The fast fleet has grown this year, and they certainly had a great tussle in ILCA 4s, 6s and Tera Pros. The top three all won a race each with the top two level, again, on points. Solomon finished third, with four points, Noah was second on three, and Jai won (much to Mum Ronnie's delight) with three points. Commodore Phil presented the prizes and medals.

The Topper fleet was dominated by Tom winning all three races. George came second with four points whilst Nathaniel was third with six points,

The third fleet (no one likes being in the slow fleet) was also won with a perfect score of first places by Finlay in his optimist. Isaac came second in his Topper 4.2 on four points. Athena, sailing a tera sport, was third with seven points.

As Tim described in the prize-giving, we then shake all the fleet results up, apply a little mathematical genius (sailwave) and out pop the overall results. Third overall was Solomon, Noah was second, and after a relatively shaky first place, Tom won. This was the second event in succession where a Topper has won in reasonably windy conditions. Tom graciously thanked everyone for running the event before Banbury presented prizes to the top three Banbury sailors. Adam was presented with the glorious Boddington trophy.

The most important awards of course are the first timers, 5 this time, all from Banbury whish was great to see. Emily, Henry, Sam, Scott, and Abigail were presented with their first timers medals.

Now of course this 3 in 1 article is broadly due to my general lassitide. I haven't yet reported on a barn storming day at Northampton back in June. The weather was glorious, Clem was introduced as head coach, and the lunch and tea were spectacular. It was a seriously impressive display of team work led by commodore Sarah.

Overall, James from Notts County won in his Topper, Keali in her ILCA 6 was second and Tom was third in his topper. The fast fleet was won by Keali from Jai and Noah. James won the Topper fleet from Tom and Thomas. The third fleet was won by Isaac in his Topper 4.2 from Arianne and Erica, both in Tera Sports, both from Middle Nene.

And the third part? A reworking of the first event at Middle Nene, probably my fault, probably due to too much delicious tea. Harry from Cransley was applauded for winning the first event of the year in his Tera Pro.

So, after three events Noah is leading from Jai, both Draycote sailors, but there is much to play for. The next event is at Draycote on 30th August. All youth and junior sailors are welcome from all clubs. We've had great attendance this year seeing sailors from all six home clubs, and fro clubs further afield, which is a delight. Where else can you get professional coaching, friendly racing, and a great tea for £10?!

Overall Results:

PosSail NoClassPYHelmClubR1R2R3Pts
Fast Fleet
1st212661ICLA 41216Jai DhaliwalDraycote SC‑2123
2nd208933ILCA 4 / Laser 4.71216Noah ByrdDraycote SC12‑43
3rd190904ILCA 4 / Laser 4.71216Solomon DayMiddle Nene SC‑3314
4th187480ILCA 6 / Laser Radial1154Peter AstleyDraycote SC‑4437
5thIIIRS TERA PRO1370Joshua GillsonMiddle Nene SC55‑710
6th743RS TERA PRO1370Harry AmberyCransley SC(DNS)6511
7th179731ILCA 6 / Laser Radial1154Henry ByrdDraycote SC7‑8613
8thIRS TERA PRO1370Harry JarvisMiddle Nene SC6‑9915
9th157416ILCA 4 / Laser 4.71216Adam EadyBanbury SC‑87815
10th157263ILCA 6 / Laser Radial1154Oilver GoverNorthampton SC9‑101019
11th177558ILCA 6 / Laser Radial1154Sam JakubowskiBanbury SC10(DNC)DNC22
Slow Fleet
1st5556OPTIMIST1631Finlay NealHollowell‑1112
2nd43526TOPPER 4.21440Isaac FouldsDraycote SC‑2224
3rd2493RS TERA SPORT1445Athena TrollingerMiddle Nene SC4(DNS)37
4th4547RS TERA SPORT1445Chloe JarvisMiddle Nene SC‑6347
5th1388RS TERA SPORT1445Elizabeth ShawMiddle Nene SC55‑610
6th4540RS TERA SPORT1445Erica WoodMiddle Nene SC‑84711
7th14TOPPER 4.21440Henry ManBanbury SC‑76511
8th4541RS TERA SPORT1445Arianne LeatherMiddle Nene SC3(DNF)DNS13
9th4970OPTIMIST1631Scott EadyBanbury SC(DNC)DNCDNC20
Topper Fleet
1st48535TOPPER1363Tom MoriartyDraycote SC‑1112
2nd44351TOPPER1363George WoodMiddle Nene SC‑2224
3rd45250TOPPER1363Nathaniel ZurekNorthampton SC‑4336
4th33815TOPPER1363Emily ShepleyBanbury SC34‑57
5th42867TOPPER1363Olivia JoyceNorthampton SC‑6549
6th40162TOPPER1363Annabelle LentonNorthampton SC5(DNS)DNC16
7th45135Topper1363Abigail HallBanbury SC7(DNF)DNC18
8th45137TOPPER1363Toby CookBanbury SC8(DNS)DNC19
9th47699TOPPER1363Serena DurrellNorthampton SC(DNC)DNCDNC22
9th6TOPPER1363Evelyn ParkinsonNorthampton SC(DNC)DNCDNC22

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