2010 NSSA Championships at Oxford Sailing Club
by Chris Lowe 1 Jun 2010 08:09 BST
29-30 May 2010
The over a hundred youngsters descended on Oxford Sailing Club over the Bank Holiday weekend to take part in The 2010 NSSA Championships. This prestigious event draws youngsters from schools and colleges all across the UK and they were not disappointed. Oxford Sailing Club and Oxford District School Sailing Association worked in partnership to organise another first class event and even managed to arrange some perfect weather. Yet again the NSSA’s inclusive approach to youth sailing meant that the fleets were extremely diverse with RYA Squad Sailors and brand new Rookie racers turning out to enjoy the racing. The Rookie fleet was a significant success on last year, doubling in size and due in no small part to ODSSA making their school boats available to the new sailors.
On Saturday the 4 race programme got underway after a welcome from Adrian Kemp MBE from the NSSA’s Sailing Committee and George Barker the Event Director from ODSSA. The weather despite being overcast gave some fresh and consistent winds for the competitors to enjoy. The competitors were split amongst a Laser, Topper and a Handicap Fleet which included an eclectic mix of boats. The programmed four races were quickly over and the competitors headed back to the Hill End Campsite to recover and plan new strategies for Sunday.
Sunday was a total contrast with bright sunshine and a steady force 4 from the north-west on the cards. Competitors were not disappointed and they were keen to get started with the day’s sailing. The day started with James Tilley from the RYA’s Youth Racing Department giving the assembled youngsters and parents a short talk on how to continue with the next stage of their dinghy racing careers in the RYA Youth Racing Scheme. All the competitors were given a free copy of the RYA Youth Racing Handbook, hot off the presses to take away.
Despite the James’ talk the water was calling and with such ideal sailing conditions on the water, the safety crews raced to get going before the keen competitors set off. The Rookie fleet took to the smaller northern reservoir whilst the main fleet on the larger southern reservoir. Nigel Vick the Principle Race Officer, had the Laser fleet off first, closely followed by Toppers and the handicap fleet round the trapezoidal course.
With the wind freshening all the time, the odd white cap started to form and head across the reservoir towards the competitors, quickly bring about some very fast reaches from mark 1 down to mark 2. The gybe mark quickly became a convention centre for safety boats, with crews scooping up quite a few competitors and sending them on their way back to the start.
After two races the both fleets headed back to the shore for lunch and a sneak catch up on the F1 Grand Prix in Turkey! Wisely the Rookie Fleet choose to stay ashore in the afternoon as winds had continued to build over the lunch break. The main fleet still took to the now lively water, albeit with a little bit less enthusiasm than they had shown in the morning! Quickly the wind started to bring about a number of capsizes and many of the less experienced sailors were beginning to look rather smug for fitting masthead buoyancy! The two race series was quickly completed and the competitors returned to the shore to de-rig their boats and pack for the journey home. The results team then went into overdrive and began to pull together the competitors results from the 8 race series.
David Newton the Vice Commodore from Oxford Sailing Club was on head to present the prizes and trophies to the youngsters and thanks to ODSSA, prizes were awarded to the first 4 places in the fleets and to the overall best performing team.
The National School Sailing Association would like to thank Oxford District School Sailing Association, Oxford Sailing Club, Fotoboat, the Royal Yachting Association, George Barker the Event Director, Nigel Vick the PRO and the army of volunteers, results staff, safety crews and parents for making the event such a great success.
Overall Results:
Rookie Fleet
1st Rachel Vodden
2nd Joseph Debanks
3rd Joe Zietman
4th Alice Howe
Laser Fleet
1st Alexander Alcock
2nd Steph Wicken
3rd Martin Mills
4th Jack Holden
Handicap Fleet
1st Mike Harding
2nd Jamie Johnson
3rd Max Ellerton
4th Will Ing
Topper Fleet
1st Charlotte Fenn
2nd Dan Fenn
3rd Caitlin Tweedle
4th Martha Osman
Best Overall Team Performance
Plymouth Youth Sailing Club
(Manager: Mr Stuart Jones)