Cadet World Championships at the WPNSA

Cadet World Championships at the WPNSA - Day 3

by Peter Collyer 19 Aug 2014 08:30 BST 15-22 August 2014

Cadet Class World Championships day 3 © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Day 3 of the Cadet Class World Championships at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy was sponsored by Frensham Pond SC in memory of Andrew Bridge and the crew of the 'Cheeki Rafiki'. Andrew was a keen Cadet sailor at Frensham and it was a fitting tribute that the fleet launched on a perfect morning for racing with him in their thoughts. A 15knt north-westerly chased the boats out of the harbour and into the bay where the Race Officer and his team were laying a trapezoidal course similar to yesterday's.

The first attempt at starting Race 5 produced a general recall, so it was no surprise to see the dreaded black flag hoisted once more for the second attempt. The flag claimed a couple of victims as the fleet got away and by the top of the first beat BEL8520 Cesar Smet/Emiel Marien had established a small lead from GBR8352 Lucy/Cally Terkelsen with GBR9877 Daisy/Hattie Collingridge 3rd, ARG9472 Nahuel Ponce/Lucas Pruden 4th and the series leaders AUS9616 Thomas/Sophie Alexander 5th. By the time the boats reached the leeward gate for the first time GBR8352 had taken the lead and AUS9616 had moved up to 3rd. Close racing was the order of the day once more with BEL8520, GBR9877 and GER9690 Julian Mathwig/Matthias Henning all still very much in contention.

As the race progressed the Terkelsen girls in GBR8352 established a good lead while behind them AUS9616 moved up to 2nd and UKR9853 Igor Lvov/Maria Kulnashna made the biggest gains and came through the fleet and into 3rd. They continued their charge on the last lap, pulling through to finish 2nd behind Lucy and Cally, who won by a big margin. The Alexanders kept 3rd, GER9690 took 4th and Daisy and Hattie Collingridge added another excellent 5th to the one they got in Race 3.

As Race 6 started the nearby weather front began to effect the conditions. An initial drop in the wind strength was quickly followed by it strengthening again under the low, black clouds that now rolled across the course. The lull in pressure quickly put to bed any suggestion that the Alexanders are only good in strong winds – they read the conditions perfectly and were leading yet again by the windward mark.

As the race progressed their lead grew and grew, but a game of snakes and ladders developed in the rest of the fleet. At the bottom of the course for the last time GER9690 were 2nd and GBR9962 Willow/Cara Bland 3rd, with team colleagues GBR9046 Ross/Jake Thompson and GBR8846 Tom Collyer/Francis Butterworth also breaking into the top ten.

Coming down to the finish the Australians' lead continued to grow and they took yet another convincing win. When the final results were published it was the lone Ukrainian boat that had been awarded 2nd, with Germany's Mathwig and Henning 3rd, GBR9962 having been eliminated by the black flag.

At the half-way point in the competition Thomas and Sophie Alexander lead by 5 points from Mathwig and Henning with GBR's Lucy and Cally Terkelsen a further 10 points back in 3rd.

In the Promotional Fleet the lighter conditions allowed some new names to be welcomed onto the podium to join those who have already scored high finishes during the week. Race 5 was the second win in a row for Archie Penn and Hazel Whittle while the 3rd spot was taken by podium regulars Lainey Terkelsen and Martha Jones. Between them, 2nd place went to Aliya and Aqil Jannaty.

In Race 6 Scarlet Anderson/Amy Shephard won 'Aussie style' (i.e. by a very big margin) with Ed Harris/Faye Chatterton 2nd and Sam Yale/Harry Chatterton 3rd. Archie and Hazel lead the competition despite falling foul of the black flag in Race 6, Lulu Knott/Daisy Nunn are 2nd with Lainey and Martha 3rd.

Once ashore the fleet enjoyed the customary daily prize-giving ceremony at which the presentations were made by Frensham Pond Sailing Club's Commodore, and ex-Cadet World Champion, Keith Videlo. Racing continues on Tuesday as the lay-day has been put back to Wednesday to make the best of the predicted weather.