P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series round 5 at Northampton Sailing Club

Another super turnout of junior sailors rolled up at Northampton Sailing Club for the penultimate round of this year's series. We have the National Schools Sailing Association regatta in a weeks' time, and then a breather to allow for summer holidays.

We were greeted by a very organised reception team which set the scene for the rest of the day. The club was busy with campers and paddle boarders, but with a lovely long stretch of boat park finding room on the grass wasn't a problem. The forecast was for perhaps 8-12mph, it looked a little less than that on arrival, but no one seemed to mind.

Northampton Sailing Club is the home water for Pinnell and Bax, our principal sponsor, and so we were lucky to have involvement from their team.

After some hasty rigging, and an emergency breakfast roll, Alex led the briefing. Under Rachel's supervision three fleets hit the water for morning training exercises. Plenty of laughter and whistling from the sailors and coaches alike was heard as I went for a potter around the reservoir. The basic premise of training in the morning followed by racing really does seem to work. Most of the sailors took part in a race in before lunch.

One ILCA sailor in particular seemed more motivated by the prospect of a fabulous chilli and rice for lunch than racing later in the day and delivered his best performance of the year!

P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series round 5 at Northampton SC - photo © Sue Warne

Whilst the sailors were brushing up their skills, we held our AGM. It was wonderful to have more than twenty people in attendance. There were some great suggestions as to how best build on the great year that we're having. We've already started working on plans for future. The kids seem to be enjoying it, and there isn't ever too much travelling. And as for value for money, another £10 entry today for coaching, racing, and a tea, unbeatable!

Lunch really was excellent and was eaten on the veranda as the day warmed up. It was soon time for the race briefing and some suncream. The breeze had built a little, much to everyone's relief. The crack race team then sent the sailors afloat, and apparently arranged for several aircraft to take off from the neighbouring farmer's field, quite a spectacle! The plan was a trapezoid course, although the shifting winds made some of the legs a little tighter than anticipated.

By now the wind was strong enough for periods of sustained hiking as well as a little swimming practice.

P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series round 5 at Northampton SC - photo © Sue Warne

Peter and Jasper took the race wins between them, but they didn't have it all their own way. In the final race Aiyusihi put her training into place and led the fast fleet by a significant distance around the entirety of the first lap. Pretty impressive in a ILCA 4 up against ILCA 6s as well as double handers. As the race unfolded she was gradually caught, but finished third on corrected time in that race.

Jasper won, from Peter and Noah, a Draycote ILCA top three. The fast fleet really has grown this year which is fantastic to see.

The Topper fleet was won by James, visiting from Notts County. Frederick, Draycote, took the other race win. Thirteen topper 5.3s signed on with three 4.2s racing in the slow fleet. James won the fleet, Frederick was second, and much to Commodore Sarah's delight, Charlie from the home club came third.

The sailors were pretty evenly split, and twelve boats made up the slow fleet. Anything slower than a topper 5.3 goes in the slow fleet, and anything faster in the fast fleet. Tera sailors can choose their rig size, but compete overall in the slow fleet.

Finn, Optimist, won the first race, with Harry, Tera Pro, winning the second and third races. The points were very close, Harry won with two points, Finn was second with three and Joshua, Tera sport, finishing third with four points.

Once ashore there was a mixture of boat packing up (mainly the parents) and tea consumption (sailors). The clubs have all taken the business of a sailor's tea very seriously this year (as well as the prizes). Northampton were no exception, and no one was left feeling hungry. I can confirm that the chocolate cake really was fabulous although I don't recommend eating and trying to present the prizes simultaneously.

P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series round 5 at Northampton SC - photo © Sue Warne

Sue crunched the results very quickly and Sarah presented some lovely prizes and trophies. Dexter, Serena, Dan, James and Hannah were awarded their first timers medals, always lovely to see. After handicaps had been applied across the fleet, Peter was awarded third place, Noah was awarded second and Jasper was the overall winner.

We've seen several different winners this year, which really is testament to Rachel's coaching.

Jasper gave a lovely acceptance speech before we hitched off, and headed off. Next up, the NSSA regatta at Bassenthwaite under the watchful eye of Emily and David.

The final event of our series will be at Draycote in September. All of the prizes remain up for grabs. We'd love to see 60 junior sailors take part. All junior sailors are welcome, from all clubs. All monohulls are accepted, if there isn't a PY for your boat, we'll think of something.

The aim of the game, is fun, friendly participation with the bonus of a great tea! Keep an eye out on our Facebook page.

P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series round 5 at Northampton SC - photo © Norman Byrd

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