Hobie 16 Open Meeting at Bognor Regis Yacht Club

Young Catamaran Sailors at Bognor

The most recent teams of Volvo RYA National and Development Squad cat sailors competed in the Hobie Cat Open event in Bognor over the weekend of the 22nd-23rd September.

Fresh from their training camp the teams were keen to test their skills against the rest of the fleet in some stronger winds.

The seven boat strong dragoon fleet impressed both the older sailors and potential young converts enjoying the freedom of catamaran sailing as much as the racing.

Six youth Hobie 16 teams competed in the open class from the newly announced Volvo RYA National and Development Squad fleet.

Three races were sailed the first day in light testing conditions which brought back memories of the recent national championships, where tide and wind shifts were hard to read but important to be on the right side of. In the Dragoon fleet the team of Tom Phipps / Jonathan Cook put in an impressive 2 firsts but other teams of Ben Mansfield / Ben Hinks, Andrew / Chris Taylor were always hot on their heels and sometimes in front. In the Hobie 16 fleet Mike Thomson / Matt Quaife, Ben Cutler / Chris Clarke both had wins and stayed in the top five boats making the 1st days points very close.

Day 2 saw a substantial increase in wind, force 4 gusting 5 offshore with the race committee getting in two races.

Those Hobie 16 sailors with strong wind experience revelled in the relatively flat water and the gate style course, whilst the less experienced teams had their first taste of Hobie16 's under full power, but not always in control!

In the dragoon fleet similar skills were being experienced for the first time, Phipps / Cook, who had sailed their boat the longest, pulled away consistently from the pack through good boat handling and strong wind practice. Other teams came to the front of the fleet such as Richard Deyes / Sam Phelps recording a 2nd in on of the races.

Brian Phipps, RYA National Youth Multihull Coach was on hand to support the teams and see how they performed. Given that many of the teams are new to both squads he was pleased with the progress teams are making and can see a lot of potential in sailors that will be successful in the year 2002.

Overall Results:

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com Hobie 16 Page