P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series Round 1 at Cransley Sailing Club

P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series Round 1 at Cransley © Andie Byrd

P&B Northamptonshire Youth Series Round 1 at Cransley © Andie Byrd

Glorious weather? Tick.
Loads of sailors? Tick.
Enthusiastic coaches? Tick.

The 2024 series kicked off at Cransley Sailing Club. There were plenty of sailors, in fact interest was so high that the entry list closed before the event. It's never nice to have to disappoint would be entrants, but the next event is coming soon!

The RYA have confirmed funding for the series for another year, for which we are extremely grateful. Similarly, thank you to Pinnell and Bax for sponsoring the event again for the umpteenth year. Nelly made an appearance at the event, chief boat hauler for Northampton Sailing Club it would appear.

After a brief welcome the sailors were split into the customary fast, slow and topper fleets. As this was the first event of the year, head coach Rachel devised a morning of refreshing the basics. The breeze across the reservoir was a little variable, everything from calm, to fully hiked, to capsized! Over forty sailors were put through their paces before lunch.

PRO Nigel Austin briefed the sailors and more or less the whole fleet launched. A wide range of boats were sailed, everything from a fantastic looking O'pen BIC, to training Opis with everything else in between. As long as we can find a PY for your boat, you can probably join in. If we can't find a PY, we'll probably make one up! As usual though, the toppers were the largest fleet (17 boats) followed by the fast fleet (16) and slow fleet (11).

William Clarke (Hollowell) and Oscar Rowe (Draycote) won the first two topper races making it all to play for in the final race. Edward Croxton from Hollowell took the final race, with Oscar beating William to win the fleet overall. First place Oscar Rowe, second place William Clarke, third place Edward Croxton.

Another three sailors took race wins in the slow fleet. Athena Trollinger, Middle Nene, won the first race in her Tera Sport. Henry Martin, Treaddur Bay, Anglesey, won the second in his Optimist. Finn Neal, Hollowell won the final race in his Optimist. Finn took first place, Henry was second, and third place was won by Harry Jarvis, Middle Nene, Tera Sport.

The fast fleet was won by Jaspar Nicholls, Draycote, ILCA 6, with race wins in the first and second races. Noah Byrd, last season's overall winner in an Optimist, won the final race to finish second overall in the fast fleet in his (brother's) ILCA 4. Peter Astley, Draycote, ILCA 6 came third overall.

Once the handicaps had been compiled first place overall was won by William, second was Noah and third was Oscar.

Almost a quarter of the fleet received their first timer medals, perhaps the most important medals of the day. All of these sailors will be eligible for the overall first timer trophy to be awarded at the end of the series. This rewards participation over performance and is primarily scored by number of races finished, not overall position.

It took until Monday evening to complete the results, for which I apologise. An enormous thanks to Matt Rowley at Draycote who helped crunch the numbers despite running an enormous Feva event at Draycote. Apologies also to Peter Astley who was initially thought to be fourth in the fast fleet but in fact was third. Equally, apologies are also due to Hasan Tayub from Leicestershire and Rutland Youth Sailing who was though to have come third in the fast fleet, but came fourth.

A huge thanks to the team at Cransley for delivering the event. The club was absolutely full, fit to burst. The car park was full, the track to the club shared a dual role as an overspill car park!

On this showing it looks as if Hollowell are going to put up a stiff fight for club of the year. This has been won by Draycote for the last few years, will they be able to defend their crown? Lots of sailors have changed classes this year opening the door for other winners. An exciting year to come. The next event will be at Middle Nene Sailing Club on May 11th. As well as delivering plenty of wind and exciting sailing last year, they also delivered the most fabulous sailors' tea! Definitely worth a visit. All junior sailors from all clubs are welcome at the series. We'd be delighted to have sailability sailors taking part. Keep an eye on our facebook page for more information!

Overall Results: