Felpham take honours as county’s top young sailors take to the water
Sailing On a glorious weekend, young Felpham Sailing Club sailors lifted the prestigious team trophy for the tenth year running at the West Sussex Schools & Youth Sailing Association annual regatta.
A total of 120 young people sailing 94 dinghies representing ten schools and clubs from across West Sussex took part at Felpham.
It was a spectacular sight with all the dinghies lined up on the beach, and as the launch signal was received they rapidly departed.
With ages ranging from eight to 18 there was a wide range of ability and dinghies. Sailors were split into four fleets – a rookie fleet and three split by handicap. RS Fevas had a fleet of their own with other dinghies forming the slow and fast fleets.
Paralympic gold medallist Helena Lucas was on hand to give pre-race tips, coaching on the water and post-race video analysis.
It was all aimed at having fun and increasing racing participation among young people. Every child was given a certificate, a medal and a Felpham SC drinks bottle.
Racing was often close, but several performances stood out. In the rookie fleet, Jamie Edwards from Chichester YC sailing a Topper 5.3 scored four wins in five races, followed by Eva Carmichael (also in a Topper 5.3) of Crawley Mariners YC scoring a first and two seconds. Eddie Ruffer and Luka Medina (Worthing SC) were third in the RS Feva.
Isabelle Tonks (Chichester YC) did well in her Optimist. She showed great determination for fourth.
In the slow fleet, Toby Field (Emsworth SC) in an RS Tera Pro did enough to hold off Joshua James (Felpham SC) Scores of young sailors enjoyed the conditions and impressed with their talents at the West Sussex regatta
in a Topper 5.3 and Samuel Tonks (Chichester YC) in a RS Tera Sport. Felpham SC took seven of the next nine places.
There were 12 RS Fevas in the medium fleet. Crawley Mariners YC took the top three spots. Lauren and Emily Hetherington showed everyone else how to do it by with three wins and a second.
The fast fleet was a mix of Lasers, an RS200 and two Aeros. The Aeros dominated with Jack Miller (Felpham SC) taking four bullets and Fin Swanton (Felpham) following with seven points. Miles Vidler (Crawley Mar) was third.
In the battle of the Laser radials, Seaford College shone with Ollie Randall-may and
Tom Lawson lying just behind Alfie Lester in fourth. Pagham Lagoon Sailing had their best result with Sam Atherton seventh in a Laser Radial.
Prize-giving began with a moment’s silence in honour of Andy Farrer, former commodore, who had died that weekend. Andy had set out a strategy for youth development in 2007. Trophies were awarded for the top positions in the major classes and Rooster provided vouchers for sailing gear.
The Russell Moore Trophy was dedicated nearly 25 years ago in memory of Russell, who died of leukemia at a young age. The trophy is for a young person who has gone the extra mile to support sailing.
Two contenders were nominated, Charlie Howell from Felpham SC and Lizzie Kies from Dell Quay SC. The chairman and secretary of WSSYSA decided it should go to Charlie. It was presented by Russell’s sister, Paula Bentley.
The team score calculation ended with Felpham taking the trophy, with Crawley Mariners a close second.
Thanks went to spnsors Tesco, Mays Estate Agents, Rooster, and the RYA London & South East Region Youth Training Fund. Guy Mayger and Ross Fisher did an excellent job planning racing.