Fun All The Way At Full-On Gunfleet Cadet Splash

Gunfleet Sailing Club’s 2024 Cadet Splash took part over the three days of 27 – 29 August and was heralded a great success by all those taking part – both the participants and the helpers.  The weather was wall to wall sunshine, with a sailors’ wind throughout, although occasionally somewhat trying.  Two teams were chosen – The Frankie’s Stein, and the Five Part Turk’s Head; both names just rolling off the tongue!!  Our Cadet Officer Jo ran the whole thing, with a bunch of parent helpers, and a full and varied programme got underway. So, without delay, let’s relive those days:

Tuesday:
The first day started bright but rather breezy, a south/south-westerly force four to five blowing.  The early arrivals decided to rig 4.2 sails on their Toppers but as time marched on so the wind dropped and backed southerly; the rest of the Topper fleet, arriving a little later, deciding to go full rig; Adam, sailing his Laser, decided to use his 4.7 sail.  Cadet Officer Jo welcomed everyone and gave a briefing of the day’s activities, starting with the first race in the Cadet Splash Series.  After a clean start it was Finley, with his 4.2. who lead the fleet, followed by George and then Belle (also on a 4.2), but it wasn’t long before Adam sailed his Laser passed them and immediately pulled away, with Annabelle acting as a crew on the foredeck.  As they headed down the coast it was Adam and Annabelle that rounded the Eastcliff buoy first, followed by George and then Izzie, but as they tacked out to the Lilley Farm mark so Finley regained third place.  The third leg was a run to the ODM before a beat back out to the AWS buoy; Adam and Annabelle, and George, holding the top two places.  A reach up the coast to the Preston Park buoy then followed, a gybe and broad reach into Kingscliff, and then a fetch back to the line.  At the end of the first lap it was George in first place on handicap, followed by Adam and Annabelle, and then Finley.  On the second lap things changed quite a bit and Laura drove her Topper hard, overtaking several competitors and gaining a third place, but not quite beating George, or Adam and Annabelle.
Results – Splash Race 1:
1.    Topper – George Smith (+ First Topper)
2.    Laser – Adam Kedge and Annabelle Lockett
3.    Topper – Laura Kedge
There then followed a team game where all the sailors reached back and forth between two buoys, and every time the whistle was blown by the Rescue Boat crew, a tennis ball had to be passed from one team boat to the next, so working its way down the team.  The number of laps was counted for each team member and, at the final whistle, the times were taken on rounding the last mark.  It was then all back for lunch – sausages, baked beans and mash, before onto the next set of games.   A huge cheer went up for the first one, “Balls-up”, where the Rescue Boat crew dropped off hundreds of plastic balls that the teams had to sail out to and pick up.  At one point there were more Cadets in the water than on boats and literally hundreds of balls were brought ashore; the Club Rescue Boat picking-up any stray ones.  After that came the “Flying-Floating-Frisbee” game, where a Frisbee had to be passed by a team member to a fellow team member, at a given signal, whilst sailing round a triangular course.  Times were taken for each boat and points awarded based on positions at the end.  To recover from these two games, it was time for a well-earned cake break, with a wide variety of cakes to choose from.  Finally, there was the “Water Balloon Sail”, when two team members sailed a boat out to the Rescue Boat, tied to the AWS buoy, retrieved a tennis ball, which was brought back to shore and exchanged for a mass of balloons full of water.  The remaining team members carried them down the coast to meet their team boat, a few bays down, which had to sail all the balloons back; the winners being the boat with the most balloons still filled with water.  By now it was time to pack the boats away and head for home.

Wednesday:
Day two and the wind was onshore, south-easterly, blowing force three to four and all the Toppers chose to go full rig, whilst Adam rigged his Laser with a radial sail.  At the start it was Finley that lead, followed by Laura, then Adam, and then Charlie; but Adam, sailing on his own this time, soon pulled away and continued to open the gap.  He was first round Eastcliff, followed by Finley and then Laura.  The next leg was a beat out to Lilley Farm, at which point Belle overtook Laura and these positions remained on the reach to AWS, and run to ODM.  However, the beat back to AWS saw Belle take the lead in the Topper fleet; George now just behind her.  It was then a reach to Preston Park, a run down to Kingscliff, and a final reach back to the line.  At the end of the first lap it was Adam in a strong lead, but the Toppers were all bunched closely together; Belle first, then Charlie very close by, followed by George.  During the second lap, Laura got ahead of George but otherwise places remained unchanged.
Results – Splash Race 2:
1.    Laser – Adam Kedge 
2.    Topper – Belle Hart (+ First Topper)
3.    Topper – Charlie Heath
There followed the “Sponge Bob and Out” game where the sailors all reached, once more, between two buoys and a sponge was thrown into the water by the Rescue Boat crew and the first sailor to get it then threw it at an opposition team member who, if they or their boat were struck, were out.  It proved an intense bit of fun that lead to lunch time – pasta in sauce and garlic bread. The “Beach Treasure Hunt” was straight after lunch and a mad dig soon unearthed hundreds of tokens, the teams’ collection bucket quickly overflowing.  After that came the “Triathlon” with swimming first, then sailing, and finally running; a batten being passed between each activity.  The cake break saw the teams all refuelled and ready for the “Watery Wordsearch”; two sets of twelve letters, each letter on a separate bottle and no repeats, were cast adrift by the Rescue Boat crew and then it was a mad dash by the boats to get them.  Having brought the letters back to shore it was time to try and work out the word.  This took a while but just about at the same time it came to them – UNFORGIVABLE.  Low and behold, it was the end of the day and time, once again, to pack the boats away.

Thursday:
The third, and last, day arrived and the wind was fluky, both in strength and direction.  Predominantly west/south-westerly, there was also a strong ebb tide to contend with.  At the start, which was a beat down the coast to Eastcliff, it was Finley that lead, with Belle second and Laura third.  Laura defied the tide and headed out to sea, picking up some much cleaner wind, but also fighting a much stronger tide.  The rest of the fleet seemed stalled behind the line, but then the wind slowly filled in and Adam groyne hopped in his Laser, reaching Eastcliff first.  Laura, Finley, Izzie and Charlie followed, whilst Brooke found the conditions so frustrating that she retired in her Topper.  By the time the boats reached Lilley Farm, Adam was away and disappearing in the distance, whilst Finley was the first Topper, followed by Izzie and Charlie.  Laura wasn’t prepared to accept this and, as they hooked round AWS on their way to Preston Park, she overtook the rest of the Toppers and opened up a solid gap.  But the wind continued to misbehave itself, and there were flat spots that caught everyone out.  Following a reach down to Kingscliff, there was the slog of a beat back to the line and, at the end of the first lap it was a very convincing lead for Adam’s Laser, whilst in the Topper fleet it was Laura, then Charlie, followed by Izzie.  The second lap saw Belle move up the fleet and heading for Charlie when, in a sudden unexpected gust, he capsized and was forced to retire.  Having carved out a strong Topper lead, Laura had technical problems and required the assistance of the Rescue Boat; this gave Belle the chance to gain her second Topper win of the Splash.
Results – Splash Race 3:
1.    Laser – Adam Kedge 
2.    Topper – Belle Hart (+ First Topper)
3.    Topper – Finley Taylor
For the Toppers, the race had taken just under an hour and a half so it was straight in for lunch of fish fingers, peas and chips, before “Tug of War”, and this was followed by “Egg Throwing”.  Some “Social Sailing & Swimming” then took place whilst the wind settled down, at which time it was “Numbers-Up” when plastic bottles, with numbers inside, were released, and the teams caught as many as they could in order to score the total value of all the numbers that had been scooped up.  Finally it was time to “Kiss the Bow” and team members slid carefully down the hull of a Topaz on its side in an attempt to kiss the bow of the boat before going underwater.
The Splash concluded with the prize-giving and the following trophies were awarded:
Orsted Cadet Splash:  Adam Kedge in his Laser
Topper Splash:  Belle Hart
Winning Team – Swallow Trophy: The Frankie’s Stein
Runners-up – Amazon Trophy: Five Part Turk’s Head
Cadet of the Week – Double G Trophy:  Izzie Heath   
Finley then presented Jo with a bunch of flowers as a small token of the Cadets’ appreciation and everyone went their separate ways, full of happy memories, and looking forward to the 2025 Gunfleet Splash.