University Fleet Racing Championships at Plymouth
by Tony Mapplebeck 6 Nov 2014 13:48 GMT
1-2 November 2014
The sun shone all weekend on 174 sailors in 97 boats competing in 4 fleets at the BUCS Fleet Championships 2014. City University was represented for the first time, joining 16 other teams for a great weekend in a city renowned for its socials. Organised by British Universities' Sailing Association (BUSA) at the Mount Batten Sailing Centre, in conjunction with a partnership of Plymouth University and its Sports Union, Plymouth Youth Sailing, Plymouth Marine Institute and the University's Sailing Club, the event drew in an impressive 97 volunteers.
With gusts of 35+ knots on Saturday morning and an increasing forecast, the decision was taken to run the racing inside the Cattewater, rather than venture out into Plymouth Sound. Boats were split into two groups, with the Slow and Fast Handicap fleets, along with the Laser fleet, sailing three successive races, with the Fireflies following suit in the afternoon. This offered competitors and spectators the chance to watch the racing from the elevated view of the Mount Batten Centre amidst sunshine and blue skies.
The wind gradually built throughout the day to around 26 knots with competitors revelling in the strong winds and flat water offered within the sheltered grounds of the Cattewater. The Laser fleet particularly made the most of these conditions, making for some very exciting and quick runs! Competitors were grateful for their sheltered location and thanked the race officer for running such good racing amidst challenging conditions and circumstances.
Helena Pugh (Cardiff, sailing a Firefly with Emily Wiltshire) spoke of the sailing on Saturday as "bizarre, but awesome. Great competition and exciting". Edward Albert (Portsmouth, with Ashley Greenal, in a Firefly): "Very shifting. Lot of work – on a pin end start, we should have had a flyer, but the wind just died. Made the tactician job quite hard!"
In the Slow Handicap fleet, Tom Ballantine in the National 12 said Saturday was "challenging. Really close, tight racing. Very big gusts". Will Waddington, crewing the Laser 3000, with Alex Shaw (Plymouth), on their home waters, leading the Slow Handicap Fleet on the Saturday in the Cattewater, said, "Really good weekend. Race organisation spot on. Shame not to be out on the Sound, but we really get going when the wind fills".
After racing on Saturday, Kirstie Urwin (Exeter), briefly remarking on the size of the Laser 3000 sail on the Cattewater that seemed to take the wind, was looking forward to Sunday on the Sound: "We'll beat them tomorrow. Longer races, we will get up planing for longer!"
At the end of day one, the first award of the weekend, the Marine Institute '150 years with Plymouth University' Trophy was presented to the winners of the second race in the Firefly Fleet, Matt Wallis & Jack Muldoon of Cardiff University by the University's Deputy Vice Chancellor, Richard Stephenson, with Paul Wright representing the Marine Institute.
Emily Nagel, speaking before Sunday's racing, was looking forward to getting out in the Sound with her Southampton University Fast Handicap colleagues: "All is going well so far as we are in front. We want BUCS points, and we want to keep Fleet Racing in the student sailing calendar. We enjoy this event, and we have 25 competitors here, across all four fleets. The BUCS Fleet Racing Championship is important to us!"
True to the forecast, Sunday morning saw lighter winds averaging at around 20 knots. However, the weather gods were still looking over Plymouth, with the area enjoying sunshine and blue skies - unprecedented for this time of year. Competitors took to the water and headed towards the Sound with enthusiasm. Despite the lighter winds, the water was still choppy, making for some challenging, but thoroughly enjoyable upwind legs. Competitors revelled in the conditions, clearly enjoying the winds and chop offered by the event - something many do not experience during their normal inland sailing season. The racing was described by competitors as 'exhilarating' and 'champagne racing' and was the envy of many of volunteers! The Laser fleet again enjoyed the conditions, making the most of the challenging, but thoroughly enjoyable, upwind conditions, fast reaches and runs.
On their return on Sunday evening, having scored three bullets, Champion Slow Handicap helm, Issy Fitzgerald said, "Good! Great to be in a 420 again. It was really nice in the Sound. More stable conditions allowed us to get out properly on the wire".
The Surrey team, sailing a Laser II, 29er, Laser and RS Vision and having had a challenging Saturday, were bouncing at the end of sailing on Sunday: "Excellent today; we did better in both double-hander fleets.....but the National 12 was beating us in the Slow Handicap!" And Surrey's Freddie Chiddicks, who was 4th in the Laser, led the field after the RYA Squad sailors.
Following the top group of Laser sailors at this event was something special. With years together in the boat, RYA Podium Potential Squad sailors, Matt Reid (Southampton Solent), Lorenzo Chiavarini (Plymouth) and Martin Evans (Exeter) must know pretty much all that there is to know about each other's sailing. Lorenzo, the BUCS 2012 and 2013 Laser Champion, has had a fantastic summer, winning both the Under 21 World and Under 21 European Laser Championships. But Martin had a special agenda at this event, to win it at his third attempt before he graduates, while Matt was not going to give an inch!
Lorenzo, having started on Saturday with a bullet in Race 1, saw Martin and Matt take 1st and 2nd in the second race and was beaten by Martin in the 3rd, in the very difficult conditions in the Cattewater. His only comment on Saturday night was "back to work tomorrow...". Matt on Sunday morning said of Saturday's racing, "pretty hard. The pressure - not seen on the water. Very random. More extreme than Spinnaker!". Not sure how to interpret this, we turned to fellow Spinnaker sailor, Tom Harrison (Southampton, sailing in the Firefly feet with Jenny Pearson-Farr), who explained that it had been very shifty, "gusts dropping down onto the water (over the hill), big changes in strength and depth, all at the same time! Pleased that we are to be out in the Sound today".
All three of them took bullets on Sunday. The eventual Laser Champion 2014, Martin Evans, said "I had been hoping to win for the last three years and had been very frustrated. This year, my last, I needed to win. Lorenzo has had an amazing summer. It was down to the wire in the last race, and I needed to take him out".
Hannah Tilley (Southampton), sailing her Radial, came off the Sound on Sunday with a big smile: "Awesome. Great to be fleet racing again. Nice to race against the boys I grew up with – Martin, Matt, Lorenzo. But it was hard work being the only girl out there [in the Laser Fleet] today!"
The BUCS Fleet Championships are about both individual and team champions. The prize giving saw Isabel Fitzgerald/Kirstie Urwin (Slow Handicap), Hugh Ward/Calum Healey (Fast Handicap), Matthew Wallis/Jack Muldoon (Firefly) and Martin Evans (Laser) crowned Champions 2014 in their respective fleets.
But this Championship is also about the Team Trophies and all-important university overall placing to earn BUCS points. These are scored on the basis of the top three boats for each university in either all male teams or all female teams.
The University of Plymouth wins the Men's Team Trophy, and the University of Southampton, the Women's Team Trophy.
The proceedings and the Championship were drawn to a close by BUSA Committee Members Jessica Beecher, Sean Clarkson and Lizzie Fiddaman. They thanked all the collaborating organisations who together ran the event once again so smoothly, including the Mount Batten Sailing Centre, Plymouth University and its Sports Union, Plymouth Youth Sailing and the University's Sailing Club and the many volunteers, associated with these organisations and BUSA, who made such vital and 'professional' contribution to achieving a safe and enjoyable event, both on and off the water.
For the full results for all four fleets, go to www.busa.co.uk/events/bucs-fleet-racing-championships