Cadet UK National Championships at Brixham Yacht Club - Overall

by Neil Collingridge 1 Sep 2021 09:42 BST 23-27 August 2021

We rejoin the Cadet Nationals half way through with, as we reported previously, "everything to play for throughout the fleet".

Wednesday saw a continuation of the breeze and big easterly seas with Will Shepherd and Joe Mycroft starting to find their mojo, registering a bullet and a second. Hannah Carruthers and George Cox Oliff after faltering a little in the first, won the second race of the day but Hamish Collingridge and Rhona Enkel scored a consistent 2,3 to start to close the gap to Hannah and George - down from 7 points at the start of the day to just 4 points in it as the day ended.

In the silver fleet, Evan Harris and James Vellacott held onto their overall lead with 12,17 and Olivia McMorris and Phoebe Millar continued to add to their haul of silverware in the regatta fleet with two more results pushing well up into the back-markers in the silver fleet.

On Thursday the wind was forecast to drop through the day and drop it did. Only one race was sailed and Jess Watling and Annabel Shepherd were desperately unlucky. With a healthy lead all around the course and extending on the fleet throughout to the last leeward gate the wind literally shut down and the final beat became trickier than a very tricky thing.

Mish and Rhona kept their boat sailing low and fast (relative to those around them that is) and crept through to take the win ahead of Will and Joe with Hannah and George recovering to take 3rd. Jess and Annabel were ultimately 5th but should reflect positively on just how well they had sailed whilst there was wind. First silver fleet boat went to Monty Hampton and Tom Stoddart with a cracking 8th place with Olivia and Phoebe once again ahead of the back of the silver fleet boats with a 21st.

So that left things yet more finely balanced going into the last 2 races on the final day. 2 points between Hannah and George and Mish and Rhona but with neither having a discard after their OCS's in race 1.

At the top of the first beat Mish and Rhona led but a spinnaker snafu at the leeward gate allowed Hannah and George to break cover and take the win and extend their overall lead to 3 points with just 1 race left. Evan and James took a 6th followed by an even better 3rd in the final race to secure silver fleet overall with once again Olivia and Phoebe prevailing in regatta fleet in both races to seal that victory overall.

So back to the battle for overall 2021 UK Cadet National Champions... Mish and Rhona rounded the windward in the final race in second behind Will and Joe and they both held these positions throughout the race but Hannah and George were buried deep in the high teens and had to work hard to dig themselves out.

Ignoring the bananas sailed by others, they had reduced the deficit somewhat by the first leeward gate where they sensibly took the uncrowded port gate to avoid the melee, but at the start of the outer loop they still needed lots more places to take first overall.

Down the long outer run they again sailed straighter and faster than the slower and longer bananas sailed by the 4 boats around them and with just the last leg to go they had gained all four boats and were up into 5th - a spectacular comeback.

They held this position to the finish - even then they had a tricky cross just metres from the line - and so ended equal on 23 points with Mish and Rhona but took the overall championship on countback by virtue of having won more races - worthy champions but undoubtedly pushed to the limit.

Proceedings ended with a cracking prize-giving - the cadet class has too much history and as a result too many trophies to list them all but everyone received at least a keepsake to take home.

Perhaps more importantly the experiences and memories these young sailors take away just cannot be replicated - Brixham Yacht Club served up a simply superb week of sailing and one which will rank up there with the best for years and years to come (I should know; its our 10th!).

A big thank-you to Richard, their Commodore who was in the water everyday helping launch and recovery, to Adrian who lead the arrangements and to their merry band of helpers who were always on hand with good humour and a beer. Arky, our unique PRO was brought in from the race course in a cadet sailed by Toby Bush and even managed to fly the kite.

An epic end to an epic last day of an epic week. The class also says farewell as it does every year to the cohort who age out - they too are epic - but what a send off to give them. They will go from strength to strength and we hope "never forget their first cadets".

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Cadet nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Pos	Fleet	Boat Name	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	Gold	Aurora	10076	Hannah Carruthers	George Cox‑Olliff	FPSC/WSC	(OCS)	1	2	2	1	7	1	3	1	5	23
2	Gold	No Regretts	9877	Hamish Collingridge	Rhona Enkel	WSC	(OCS)	2	3	5	3	2	3	1	2	2	23
3	Gold	May Contain Nuts	9994	William Shepherd	Joe Mycroft	FPSC	5	5	6	11	2	1	2	2	‑18	1	35
4	Gold	Pushing It	10001	Toby Bush	Kemmel Thorogood	WSC	3	4	7	1	6	4	7	13	3	‑14	48
5	Gold	She Who Dares	9028	Bridgitte Nee	Monty Slump	FPSC	1	3	1	12	(RET)	9	6	7	7	9	55
6	Gold	Lift Off	9321	Ines Green	Thomas Krailing	WSC	11	‑15	4	6	4	3	11	9	9	6	63
7	Gold	Whats it Called	9020	Jess Watling	Annabel Shepherd	FPSC	‑20	9	15	10	12	5	4	5	5	10	75
8	Gold	Enigma	10003	Libbie Bush	Emily Krailing	WSC	8	7	5	4	7	10	15	12	‑21	11	79
9	Silver	Spectre	10007	Evan Harris	James Vellacott	WSC	9	16	10	3	10	‑17	12	17	6	3	86
10	Gold	Boombastic	10032	Amelia Mayhew	Hettie Thorogood	WSC	2	13	9	7	8	6	16	14	‑22	21	96
11	Gold	Joint Effort	10012	Edward Fletcher	Alex Enkel	WSC	26	‑33	28	8	5	8	10	4	17	7	113
12	Silver	Double Expresso	9634	Sarah McEwan	Holly Jones	FPSC	10	8	11	20	9	‑29	20	10	8	22	118
13	Gold	Aelous	10002	Tom Walker	Ava Stoddart	FPSC	4	18	17	(DNC)	DNC	11	8	6	11	12	122
14	Silver	Sullom Voe	71	Monty Hampton	Tom Stoddart	SCSC	7	6	8	28	(RET)	14	17	8	10	24	122
15	Silver	Mischief and Mayhem	9964	Sophie Sfaxi	Alex McEwan	FPSC	6	12	16	‑19	15	19	13	11	15	16	123
16	Silver	Zest	9876	Robert Stewart	Dylan McArdle	WSC	(SCP)	11	12	14	11	13	21	18	14	15	129
17	Silver	Teen Spirit	8533	George Little	Zachary Windibank	FPSC	12	17	21	‑23	14	16	5	19	12	17	133
18	gold	Good Vibes	10092	Brandon Barker	Kali Karaskas	Stone SC	18	10	22	9	17	15	‑25	23	13	13	140
19	Silver	Twocan	9985	Gwen Thorogood	Elouise Mayhew	WSC	19	14	13	15	13	21	14	‑25	16	18	143
20	Gold	Sorcerer	9983	Tristan Whittle	Dominik McArdle	WSC	16	‑27	18	13	19	18	18	15	20	19	156
21	Gold	Aquilo	8854	Ryan Harris	Sophie Marshall	FPSC	22	25	26	16	22	12	‑29	22	4	8	157
22	Silver	Master Mariner	8352	Megan McMorris	Joshua Davidson	SCSC	17	19	24	17	20	22	9	30	(DSQ)	4	162
23	Silver	Sugar Rush	8845	Mimi Slump	Samantha Nee	FPSC	13	21	‑23	21	16	20	19	16	23	23	172
24	Silver	The Great Escape	9962	Charlie Bailey	James Bailey	WSC	25	‑29	25	24	26	23	23	24	19	20	209
25	Silver	Sizzerling Hot	8333	Lydia Mycroft	Mimi Windibank	FPSC	21	26	20	22	21	26	24	20	‑32	29	209
26	Silver	El Nino	9043	Fiona Nee	Elliott Chapman	FPSC	15	23	30	25	18	27	22	(DNC)	27	25	212
27	Silver	Whacky When Wet	9378	Tom Shepherd	Jolyon Conway	FPSC	14	22	14	26	25	31	27	‑32	29	28	216
28	Silver	She who shall not be named	9400	Emilia Mayhew	Immi Sherwood	WSC/FPSC	27	‑30	19	18	28	24	28	26	25	26	221
29	Regetta	Scallywag	9083	Olivia McMorris	Phoebe Millar	SCSC	23	24	29	30	‑31	25	26	21	28	31	237
30	Gold	Legend	7202	Emilia Hampton	Jemima McMorris	SCSC	24	‑31	31	27	30	30	31	31	24	27	255
31	Silver	Fired Up	9371	Ethan Millar	Thomas Pontet	SCSC	(OCS)	20	27	29	24	28	DNS	29	31	33	256
32	Silver	Purple Haze	9454	Amelie Whitehouse	Maddy Sherwood	FPSC	28	32	32	31	23	‑33	33	33	26	30	268
33	Regatta	Moonraker	8556	Ava Roberts	Jack Dingwall	SCSC/Rickmansworth	29	28	33	32	27	32	32	28	30	‑34	271
34	Regetta	Azure	9080	Annie Power	Daisy Adams	SCSC/WSC	30	‑34	34	33	29	34	30	27	33	32	282