Junior Events 2009 - Burghfield Sailing Club

Burghfield Junior sailors at the Eric Twiname Championships 6th/7th May

Four Burghfield junior sailors represented the RYA Southern Zone at the prestigious 23rd Eric Twiname Championship on the 9th/10th May at Rutland SC.

Now in their 23rd year, the Championships are the pinnacle of the racing calendar for the RYA Zone and Home Country squads as nine squad teams in over 285 boats and windsurfers go head-to-head over two days for the prestige of picking up the coveted Eric Twiname Shield and being named top RYA Zone.

This year the South East Zone emerged victorious by the narrowest of margins claiming the overall Championship title from the second placed South Zone (which includes Burghfield SC) on a tie-break. South Zone took the dinghy trophy though, consisting of results from the Toppers, Optimist and Cadets.

Burghfield’s Jennifer Cropley and Rafaella Quinton joined the six other South Zone Optimist sailors and in the Topper class Lottie Harland and Matt Stephens the six other South Zone Topper sailors. For all the Burghfield sailors this was their first ET Championships.

Different courses were set out on the reservoir for the various fleets. The PRO announced that four races would be attempted on Saturday leaving two for the Sunday. So in a shifty and gusty wind of over 20 knots the sailors took to the water.

In the Optimist class a total of 59 sailors were competing for their respective zones. Jennifer made a superb start with a 1st place in the first race. An unfortunate capsize dropped her to 33rd in the second race, but with another 1st place in the third race and then a 4th place for the last race of the day, she finished the day with a commanding lead. Rafaella started the day with an excellent 8th place followed by a consistent set of top third finishes.

In the Topper class a total of 72 sailors were competing for their respective zones. Lottie got off to a solid start with a 27th and a 25th, but then at the start of the third race disaster struck as the crane at the top of the mast that holds the sail up broke, dropping the sail some six inches down the mast. Nonetheless she kept going in the gusty conditions recording a 17th. After a makeshift on the water repair, which still left her with the sail a good few inches off the top of the mast, she then put in her best race of the day with a 10th! Matt sailed a consistent set of races through the first day as he got used to the blustery conditions with a best race of 43rd.

Sunday dawned with no wind and around midday the PRO decided to abandon all racing for the day. In the Optimist class, with two race wins from four, Jennifer, aged 10, landed the overall as well as the top girl Optimist prizes in her first ET Championships – a great achievement – and Rafaella finished in a strong 19th place.

In the Topper class Lottie finished in 19th place, and was the first of the South Zone Topper sailors in the fleet. Matt finished the weekend in 60th.

Afterwards Jennifer said: “It feels really cool to win two trophies at my first ETs! It was really tiring on Saturday but when you get tired you just have to concentrate really hard. I pretend I’ve only got five more minutes left of a race, even if it’s really half an hour, because breaking the race into little bits helps me concentrate and manage my race better.”

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Burghfield Toppers at Inland Championships 2nd/3rd May

Six Burghfield junior sailors from our ever strengthening Topper fleet made their way to Grafham Water SC over the bank holiday weekend to join close on 300 other Topper sailors for the annual Topper Inland Championships.

Unlike some other junior classes, the Topper is an open class and so has a fair smattering of adults along with a strong youth contingent. Five of our junior sailors were entered in the 260 strong Topper Inland Championship fleet, some sailing in their first major event. One Burghfield sailor was entered in the 4.2 National Championship, an event sailed on the same course but for the smaller 4.2 sq. m. rig which is suited to lighter helms, of which there were 15 competitors.

Conditions for the Inland Championship on the Saturday were very fickle, and only one race was sailed in the afternoon as what wind there was decreased. Matt Stephens and Josh Stone had the best Burghfield results of the first day, each finishing just below the top third of the fleet.

Sunday dawned very different, with wind in abundance. The scheduled three races were completed in a good 20 knot breeze with stronger gusts sweeping across the reservoir. Of the Burghfield sailors, Lottie Harland made the most of the wind and the exciting planing conditions, putting in three consistent top third of the fleet finishes giving her a 98th place overall. Matt finished the weekend 179th and Josh Stone 185th. Unfortunately Adam Stone took a bump to the head and retired in the opening race of the second day, as did Ben Dowle.

On the 4.2 National Championship course Burghfield’s Katie Dowle put in a consistent performance over the two days for an overall 9th position.

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