Burghfield Sailing Club welcomed twenty lively, up-and-coming RS Aero youth sailors to compete for the UK National Youth Champion titles. Joining them was American Dylan Williams, flying over for the camaraderie and lake sailing practice.
The weekend did not deliver the winds of the last few weeks but Day 1 had sunshine and enough wind to allow the Race Officer, David Baddeley, and his team to get 5 short races in over a trapezoid course.
The sailors chose their rig of choice pre-registration, to make a fleet of 10 RS Aero 7s and 10 RS Aero 5s.
Race 1 in the RS Aero 7 fleet saw local sailor Joe Jones get a good start from the pin end and then read the shifts and get ahead, followed by Ed Rollestone and Charlie Howard. In the RS Aero 5 fleet Oscar Fry – sailing his new boat for the first time – took the lead, followed by George Lenney and Noa Moskavitch.
Race 2 saw a little more breeze picking up, allowing Joe to take another win, this time followed by Marcus Pakes and Ethan Sparkes. In the RS Aero 5 fleet Luke Markey took the line honours, followed by Oscar and Noa.
Being a civilised venue, competitors were sent ashore for a quick re-fuel at the galley before getting straight back on the water for more sunny but lighter races.
Race 3 saw Ed win the RS Aero 7s with Charlie Gatehouse in second place and Marcus Pakes taking third. Local sailor Adam Craig won the RS Aero 5 fleet race, with Sebby Bailey in second and Oscar third. The wind was starting to drop; introducing more shifts and patches of wind that Burghfield is well known for. These type of conditions breed some of the country’s best sailors! Race 4 saw William Bailey work these well to take a bullet in the RS Aero 7 fleet, followed by Marcus and then Joe. In the RS Aero 5’s Sebby took the win followed by Andrew Soars and then Noa. Race 5 in the RS Aero 7 fleet saw another win for Joe, followed by Marcus and then Ed. In the RS Aero 5 fleet Noa took the win, with Adam in second and Andrew in third.
Overall consistency paid-off as usual; Noa Moskavitch was crowned the RS Aero 5 UK National Youth Champion and first female, and Joe Jones was crowned the RS Aero 7 UK National Youth Champion and first Junior.
Class coach Sammy IJ, who had been laying marks and observing on the water, held a debrief in the club for the sailors sharing the winning tactics of the day – which focused on keeping your head out of the boat and changing gears from the light to stronger puffs of wind. This was followed by an excellent early curry dinner put on by the new Burghfield Caterer, Keith Burwood, allowing the youths to socialise before getting off early to dry kit.
Sunday started with no wind. The gang were not in the mood to sit around, so the table tennis table was soon out and then ‘Plan B’ (a tug of war) got underway. The game was the first to five pulls. It was fought hard on the beach and saw the youngsters reaching for their sailing gloves! Next up, ‘Plan C’ – light wind slalom racing across the wind to a single mark and then back to the finish with no rule 42. Pumping and rocking was the order of the day with the winners picking up Burghfield T-shirts for their physical efforts.
The prize giving was well attended with the beautiful RS Aero trophies (courtesy of Team Rolfe) awarded along with quality sailing kit generously supported by Rooster.
Event report by Tom Jones
