West Sussex Schools and Youth Sailing Regatta
Published 19:20 on 13 Sep 2022
West Sussex School & Youth Sailing Association Regatta
After having to cancel the event for the last two years due to Covid, finally the youth of West Sussex got to enjoy their annual regatta. Worthing stood up and offered to host the event back at the WSSYSA AGM back in January and last weekend the event went ahead over Saturday and Sunday. In total we had 73 boats take to the water with sailors from AYAC, Seaford College, Adur, Felpham, Crawley Mariners, Sussex Yacht Club and of course Worthing. The weather was beautiful, a shifty northerly wind, over the two days meant a nice flat sea, amazing sunshine on Saturday and a dry Sunday meant the supporters sat on the beach also enjoyed their weekend at Worthing.
In total six races were held over the two days. The boats where split into four fleets based on handicap and experience. The fast / medium fleet raced over a course to the east of the club, whilst the slow / rookie fleet should had been to the west of the club, or was that directly south of the club? In overall charge of safety at the event, with call sign Coarse Safety Lead was Niall, who was busy on the radio making sure that there was clear separation between the two fleets. With an iron grip, from his advantage point on the race box balcony, he controlled 2 committee boats, 13 patrol boats and 73 sailing boats expertly over both days.
Worthing entered this event, three years ago when it was hosted at Felpham with just 6 Feva's. This year we had 30 boats entered with children sailing Tera's, Pico's, Feva's, Fusions and Lasers. There were at least two Worthing boats in every fleet, the depth of youth talent at the club was clear to see. In the team competition Worthing managed to come in a very respectable second place only being pushed out by Felpham. There was also some very good individual performance and success.
(Six races were contested with the top four results being counted)
Rookie Fleet
2nd Place Theodore Valentin
Missing out on first place by a single point and came first in two of the races.
3rd Place Orson Webb
Scoring the same points as Theodore but with two seconds instead of two first put Orson in third place with 12 points.
Medium Fleet
3rd Place George Garka and Zachary Skagerlind
The first day George sailed on his own and then reunited with his crew for Sundays three races and some very close racing with a Feva from Seaford College.
Within the different fleets there was also awards at class level.
Rookie Fleet
Worthing took 1, 2 and 3rd place in the Tera Sports category, with Theodore, Orson and Joey Monk delivering the clean sweep.
Lucy and Austin Russel came in 1st place in the Rookie Feva class and with Nova Robinson and Max England coming in and taking bronze.
Lola and Molly Mellor came 1st within the Pico fleet with Viktor Brochat and Josie Hamilton taking silver.
Slow Fleet
Austin Sharp took third place in the Fusion class.
Medium Fleet
George Garka and Zachary Skagerlind took third place in the Feva class
Fast Fleet
Archie Oakden came in 1st place in the Laser Full Rig class with Noah Walters taking 3rd place.
A fantastic set of results especially as the sailors in the rookie fleet and Austin in the slow were taking part in their first regatta and some of the children only started to learn how to sail this year.
There was one other trophy that a Worthing Sailor won. Before the regatta the team captains from each club were asked to nominate a sailor for the Russel Moore trophy. This trophy is awarded to a sailor who has gone above and beyond to encourage other people into sailing. Our very own Ruby Wood was presented with this trophy, a brilliant achievement and very well deserved.
This event would not have been a success without the support of the whole club. The Sunday racers who had to forgo their normal Sunday routine. The army of volunteers, who worked in the galley, behind the bars, on the beach, tally station, race box, race officers, committee boats and patrol boats etc. Everyone came together, and all pulled in the same direction which delivered a memorable experience for anyone who took part or visited us over the weekend. Next years event is at Ichenor and they have a very tough act to follow. Worthing's goal is to win the team trophy!
