NEYTS at Teesdale Sailing & Watersports Club

NEYTS at Teesdale © C Barraclough

After a break of two years due to low water levels and Covid-19 restrictions the North East and Yorkshire Youth Travellers Series returned to Teesdale at the weekend.

As the name suggests sailors from all over the region and Yorkshire travelled to Grassholme reservoir for the fifth event in the series of races. Some came from as far afield as Filey, Huddersfield and Sunderland, and waiting for them was an eager bunch of home sailors keen to show what they could do on the water. Many of the Teesdale sailors are new to the sport having cut their teeth in the last couple of months as part of the Teesdale SWC OnBoard Club which uses recently purchased boats courtesy of a Teesdale Area Action Partnership grant.

Great things were expected of home sailor Toby Waggett who just a week ago had won the IOCA North East Championship, and he did not disappoint showing everyone how to sail an Optimist dinghy by recording four victories out of four races, and in so doing winning the event outright.

Two seconds and a fourth gave Thomas Whitehead from Filey a second place in his Tera Sport. Indeed Filey were the most successful club filling three of the top six places and four of the top ten.

NEYTS at Teesdale - photo © C Barraclough

On the water the Laser 4.7s of Henry Redmond of Covenham and Liam Boyce of Filey, together with the Laser Radial of Scammonden's Oliver Hirst were never far from one another and enjoyed some tight racing. In the end it was Henry Redmond who prevailed.

George Spence of Ripon was the highest placed Topper sailor, finishing in fourth position overall; a result partly made possible by a port hand flyer on the third race which saw him leading the fleet at the windward mark, and set him up for a second place on handicap.

The Regatta fleet winner was Toby Kidd from Derwent Reservoir who had recorded two solid ninth place finishes in the first two races, but was able to discard a sixteenth place in race three when he posted a brilliant fifth in the final race of the day, thereby shooting up the rankings.

From the home club's point of view very pleasing performances came from their new OnBoard Club sailors. Sophie McGill finished eleventh overall, and finished fourth in the 'Regatta Fleet'. Sophie was pushed all the way by Isabella Butler who had her own private battle with her younger brother Henry. Isabella came out on top in the final race, but it was a close call.

"We are very proud of all our young sailors", said Club Commodore Anthony Tubbs, "particularly those who have just started the sport. Entering a first regatta can be daunting, but dare I say it; they took to it like ducks to water".

Club secretary Deborah Waggett said, "We had 24 boats on the water, which is the biggest turn out that we have had for this event. It was good to see the club pull together and the whole event went off without a hitch. A big thank you to all those volunteers and parents who helped it run so smoothly"

Despite the rather wet weather and low water levels (resulting from the recent lack of rain) which turned the beach into a mud bath the visitors enjoyed their day and expressed surprise and admiration at the new facilities at the club since the last event was hosted two years ago. Many left with a promise to return in a year's time. In return the club would like to thank all those who travelled to the Teesdale. It represents a big input of time and effort and some may not have made it home in time to see England put four goals past Ukraine!