UKCRA Youth in the SL16 World Championship 2015 at St Tropez

SL16 Worlds in Saint-Tropez © Iain Philpott

SL16 Worlds in Saint-Tropez © Iain Philpott

The beginning of July saw 6 British UKCRA (United Kingdom Catamaran Racing Association) Youth teams making the trip over to France and down to St Tropez for the 2015 SL16 World Championships. Most teams drove down and stayed in various hotels and campsites whilst others chose to fly and hire a car down there. The week got off to an eventful start for some as some last minute ferry rebookings needed to be made in order to avoid the strikes in Calais. Eventually everyone made it to the continent and text messages were flying around trying to keep in touch and track progress of when they would be arriving in the land of the super yachts.

By Friday all the teams had arrived and located their accommodation. The Club was open and we could see the sail area amongst the sea of Super Yachts. On Sunday Afternoon the Sirena Charter boats arrived later followed by additional sails and spares from the UK. Boats were rigged and boat issues were slowly resolved. Coach Paul Wakelin rocked up on the beach in the hired rib for the week and Iain Philpott had also brought his rib along in order to provide support and to provide a platform for getting great photos on the water.

Sunday evening three teams who had received all their kit hit the water for a few hours of training with the others onboard the coach boats to watch. Jack Hardie and new crew Anna Morgan scouted out the shallow areas of the bay and completed some essential capsize recovery drills.

Monday saw a light sea breeze come in and Race 1 was the first time many of the teams had sailed the boats. Teams Philpott-D'Arcy and Bridle-King made a good start getting positions half way up the fleet. Jack Butters and Sam James also posted a 10th place in race 2. Three races were sailed with almost all competitors taking the right hand side of the course.

Tuesday was another day of sea breezes coming from the South. Team Bridle-King took 4th place in Race 4 and Butters-James took 14th in Race 5. Philpott-D'Arcy took 20th in Race 6. Team Bridle-King took an additional 7th in the last race of the day.

Masts were dropped in the evening with the prospect of high winds on the way. Rowell-Smith made some swift on the water repairs to their rudders before the first race got underway.

Wednesday was a waiting game for the breeze to come in. Masts were back up and reports were coming in from local towns that the wind was filling in hard. Within minutes the wind swung 180 degrees and the Mistral had arrived. is a strong, cold and northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean, with sustained winds often exceeding forty kilometers an hour. Rig tensions adjusted and the fleet hit the water for an afternoon of seriously fun and interesting racing.

The windward mark was littered with upside down boats who hadn't managed to survive the bear-away. Team Rowell-Smith didn't have any footstraps fitted to the rear of their boat which made a 25 knot bear away a very sobering experience. A snapped mast and three races later the fleet was back on the beach demasting and tying down for the evening. Team Philpott-D'Arcy took two 13ths and Heavy weights Rowell-Smith (137kg) pitchpoled on the down wind leg turning their 10th position to 17th.

Thursday was a day of no wind followed by an unsettled breeze. After cancelling the raid the committee was still not able to setup a standard race course due to the unstable wind direction. Teams took advantage of the down time for some additional on the water training with Paul or trips into St Tropez.

Friday was an early start to get in some races before the 3pm cut off time. Once again the wind was light before flipping 180 degrees and settling enough for 2 races on the final day. There was a long period of sitting around on the water and a few shifts meant a couple of starts were abandoned. Big swell meant it paid to get closer to the shore where there was more wind and flatter water however surfing the swell down wind seemed to add a couple of boat lengths.

SL16 Worlds in Saint-Tropez - photo © Iain Philpott

With the cut off time gone there was no more racing to be had and the fleet returned to shore and packed down the boats before the prizegiving and saying Goodbyes before all the teams left to either return home or to continue their holidays.

Well done to everyone who attended the event and helped support it. Despite not taking any prizes away there were some great glimpses of brilliance seen in every race. It was a shame that there were boat issues from the beginning however we have all come away with the experience of big fleet starts and some knowledge of how to sail the SL16.

Overall Results: