Halloween ROTTERS and 2026 End of Season Awards at Ripon Sailing Club
by Lucy Priest 6 Nov 02:21 PST
Halloween ROTTERS and End of Season Awards at Ripon SC © Robin Myerscough
With the main season drawing to a close, Ripon Sailing Club's Youth and Junior sailors (the ROTTERS) met on Halloween for a day of racing and on the water games before the End of Season awards were handed out. The main aim of the day was to complete 3 races for the Towers Cup (open to all sailors under 16) and the MiniHelm trophy (open to all sailors in Yr6 and below), with supported sailing and joyrides available for our Pirates and Beginners.
It was fantastic to see almost all our sailors step up to the challenge of getting their boats around the course, particularly given that many of those taking part only learned to sail this year.
Race Officer Ian set a simple triangular course for the morning race, with two parent-manned coach boats standing by to help the least experienced sailors stay on track and get around the course. There were few surprises at the front of the junior fleet with Archie T taking an early lead, chased by the rest of The Oppy Gang though it was hard work trying to keep track of the various club boats in the middle of the fleet.
Over lunch the sailors and parents were encouraged to have their say on a wide range of topics at the Sailing Forum before heading back on the water for the afternoon racing. The course was changed slightly for the second race leading to a bit of confusion from the leading Oppies but by the end of the first lap Archie T had again pulled out into the lead chased hard by Felix F and Katie P.
By the end of the second race though the wind had died to almost nothing and further racing was abandoned in favour of a Quidditch match.
Finally it was time for the end of season prize-giving with the results in both fleets dominated by the ever expanding Oppy Gang. In the MiniHelm fleet an amazing third place went to 7yr old Frankie N, second went to Katie P and the trophy was taken home by Henry T. In the Towers Cup third place went to Callum P, second place went to Felix F and the trophy was won by Archie T.
In addition to the race prizes there were over 30 ROTTERS awards T-shirts and certificates to give out, ranging from Pirate awards for the youngest sailors to Senior Race Squad and Junior Volunteer awards for the most experienced sailors and aspiring instructors. Oscar Y and Eliza L were recognised as Most Improved sailors and Rowan S and Felix F received the ROTTER of the Year awards in the U11 and U16 categories.
This year has seen the ROTTERS go from strength to strength. Average attendance is now over 24 sailors per session which has created some positive challenges for the session organisers and club committee. The committee worked with the landlord to raise a historic limit on the number of power boats operating on the lake to allow an extra coaching group to be supported, rather than capping session places.
A generous donation from Holcim has been invested in new Topper 4.2 and Oppy MiniRig sails to continue to support our younger ROTTERS and boost training fleet capacity.
The growth of the ROTTERS is also starting to feed support back into wider club activities. Chief Instructor Jimmy Haddock is enthusiastic about the growing cohort of 14-16yr old ROTTERS and is working to integrate the existing ROTTERS awards for young volunteers into the club's existing Aspiring Instructor pathway. This will provide a clear structure for teenage sailors to gain volunteer hours for schemes including the Duke of Edinburgh's Award while also building skills towards an eventual RYA Dinghy Instructor qualification.
Club Commodore Mark Fowler notes that its also been amazing to see the level of support and engagement from ROTTERS parents, who have taken on a huge range of volunteer roles from manning safety boats to helping in the galley, generating a real community buzz around the club.
From Bring a Buddy sessions in the spring, through capsizing practice in the heat waves, to sunset Quidditch on Saturday, its been an amazing sailing season for the ROTTERS. Now its time to dig out the woolly hats and hot chocolate in preparation for the first Winter Pathway training session on Saturday 14th November.