P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series at Hollowell Sailing Club

P&B Northampton Youth Series at Hollowell © Norman Byrd

P&B Northampton Youth Series at Hollowell © Andrea Byrd

P&B Northampton Youth Series at Hollowell © Andrea Byrd

Sailors from the Midlands enjoyed blisteringly hot weather and light winds at Hollowell Sailing Club for the second round of this year's series. As well as P&B sponsoring the event, we are extremely grateful to the RYA for funding our head coach, Rachel Heggs.

Despite the attractions of a Topper NS event and a multitude of normal weekend activities we were delighted to see 25 sailors signing on for the day. It was really pleasing to see such an enthusiastic group of sailors (and adults!) attending from Middle Nene Sailing Club. MNSC are one of the original NYS clubs, but the circuit hasn't seen any of their sailors or visited the club for many, many years. How that has changed!

The sailors were split into toppers and fast fleet sailors, and everything else in the slow fleet. The main stay of the event is always the coaching. The emphasis of the whole series is participation over performance, having fun and enjoying sailing is the most important aspect of the sessions. As well as incredibly high calibre coaches from Hollowell, we were absolutely delighted to be visited by the RYA's director of racing, Nick Scott. Nick was on the water for the morning session, and the racing after lunch (more on that in a while).

The session ended up with a practice start before heading in for lunch. The day could have been billed as a wonderful lunch and tea with sailing sandwiched between them! The galley's performance certainly puts them in pole position for tea of the series. The entry fee for the day was £10 which included a spectacular tea. Lunch was tremendously good value at just £3. The whole aim of the series is to have entry level sailing, coached by the best coaches, at the lowest possible price. The clubs effectively subsidise the events for which we are super grateful.

After a short briefing by our PRO of the day, Mike, the sailors hit the water. The racing was dominated by Noah, Draycote, in his optimist and William, Hollowell in his topper. Perhaps the real story though were the 13 first timers who all received their first time medal. For a few sailors, this was their first taste of racing, great job!

Nathaniel and Benn in their Feva won the fast fleet, you can only beat whoever turns up! Finn, Hollowell came third in the slow fleet in his optimist. Amelie, also Hollowell, came second in her optimist with 3 seconds in the slow fleet. Noah won the slow fleet. 8 teras formed the bulk of the slow fleet, Henry, Draycote, was first tera, fourth overall in the slow fleet.

Edward and Alexander were tied for third in the toppers, but Edward, Hollowell, took the place. Charlie, Northampton, was super consistent finishing second. William, Hollowell, smashed the day taking three first places in the topper fleet.

Once sailwave had crunched the numbers we awarded Amelie third place overall, William second and Noah came first. Nick kindly awarded the prizes as well as the first time medals. Several sailors were awarded spot prizes to ensure everyone went home happy. Draycote's position as defending club champion is looking under threat this year, Hollowell appear to be the front runners.

Next week marks the return to Middle Nene, we can't wait. If their enthusiasm at Hollowell is anything to go by we're in for a treat. Please enter online at Middle Nene Sailing Club: MNSC P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series (webcollect.org.uk) - payment on the day. All junior sailors are welcome, from any club. Why not come and see what the fuss is about!

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