NSSA National Youth Regatta at Rutland Sailing Club

NSSA National Youth Regatta - Mount Haes Winners - Toby Freeland and George Hyett © Chris Green

NSSA National Youth Regatta - Seamanship Trophy - Pierce Harris and Alfie Cogger © Chris Green

NSSA National Youth Regatta - Silver Jubilee Trophy - Tom Evans (LRYSA) © Chris Green

The 2015 National School Sailing Association Youth Regatta was hosted by Leicestershire & Rutland Youth Sailing Association at Rutland Sailing Club between Sunday July 26th and Friday 31st. Some 282 boats from 21 Teams took part with most of the competitors and Team Managers camping at the Rutland Agricultural Showground. A team of some 150 volunteers facilitated the event and during the week there were over 2750 individual results, 60 sail number changes, 120 race queries. Over 2500 packed lunches were distributed during the week.

On most days there was series racing on four courses but Wednesday is reserved for 'Special Events', The Singlehanded Trophy, an All-Comers Pursuit Race and the prestigious Mount Haes Trophy.

The first two days were pretty windy and a number of the younger sailors stayed ashore. The Topper Class did not get afloat at all on Tuesday and the Rookies only got out in groups of 12. The Slow Handicap on the Western Course also lost a race while the Lasers down near the dam had an exciting time as gusts easily topped 25kts.

It was during these early days that two of our 'Special Prizes' were earned. Pierce Harris & Alfie Cogger of Cumbria, sailing a Feva went to the aid of a turtled Tera. Maintaining control of their own boat they righted the Tera and made sure the helm was OK before returning to their race. A great display of seamanship which earned them the Baroness Platt of Writtle Seamanship Award

On coming ashore Radial Sailor Tom Evans of the Leicestershire & Rutland Team discovered that, in the confusion of a windy first day, he had been placed in first position. Despite the enthusiasm of his team mates, Tom instantly said that this could not be correct and of his own accord went to the Race Office to inform them of the problem. For this action Tom was awarded the Silver Jubilee Sportsmanship award.

Luckily, the wind moderated for and during Wednesday. This made the Pursuit Race a benefit for the slower boats and it was won by Ben Tylecote of LRYSA in a Bic O'pen. The Singlehanded Race was won by Lewis Huphreys of Kent.

The Mount Haes Trophy was sailed in six Laser Bahias generously provided by Laser Performance. A series of six heats were sailed over an upwind/downwind course with the top two in each going forward to two semi-finals from which the Finalists were selected. Racing was not without interest, one team could not decide which way to round the leeward mark and compromised by trying to go over it. A Finn sailor decided they could do better without a crew and some very good downwind sailing saw one boat go from last place to third and snatch a place in the final.

The Final saw Toby Freeland and George Hyett penalised for an incident at the start but by the middle of the second lap they were ahead of the fleet and able to attend to a rudder which was popping up. It was a dominating performance, as they finished ahead of team-mates Julia Judd and Mark Lightbody to take the Trophy back to Kent. In third place were Milton Keynes & Bucks sailors Simon George and Jamie Blake.

Extra races were scheduled for the Thursday, as needed, which got things back on track but things got a bit difficult on the Friday as the wind took a while to fill in. The Lasers only managed two races due to a number of black flags and the distance to the racetrack but everyone finished with at least nine series races and were able to use two discards.

The Presentation of prizes took place at the Rutland Agricultural Showground in the presence of Councillor Baines, Vice Chair of Rutland County Council and Councillor Liquorice, Vice Chairman of Leicestershire County Council. Prizes were presented by The Hon Lord Lieutenant of Rutland Dr Laurence Howard CBE

However before this Peter Ashworth, the Rutland Sailing Club representative had a couple of special prizes, including one for the last person to return their tally (they couldn't find it because it was on their wrist)

As well as the usual prizes, thanks to the generous support of the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation 12 youngsters will attend a Hi-Fliers Race training course at their centre in Weymouth and 6 Students who have contributed over the years to their local association will have a trip on an Ocean Youth Club Yacht.

At the end of the presentations the Captain of the Winning Team (Kent) gave a short vote of thanks.

Photographs from the regatta are available here

Special NSSA Prizes and Trophies:

Series Trophy Winners:

Local Association Prizes: