Cadet Week Rocks In

Gunfleet Sailing Club’s 2016 Cadet Week from 1 to 5 August, sponsored by Dong Energy, proved a real hit with a great mix of racing in the morning and games in the afternoon, the latter being both on and off the water. 

 

The races were held in four different classes – Toppers, Topazes, Hobie 405’s, and Lasers, with separate starts and courses and were held each day, with the exception of Wednesday when a cruise to St. Osyth was planned.  Monday morning saw a strong south-westerly breeze but this did not deter the sailors from all taking part The Toppers found the going quite tough, with a number of capsizes, resulting in Ted Newson taking first place.  The Topazes appeared to be enjoying the strong winds and, whilst there were some retirements, it was Shona Goodchild and Maddie Corbett that claimed top spot, followed by Harrison Smith and Joshua Aiken, with Will Swain-Murrison and Francesca Cottee third.  The Hobie 405’s and Lasers were just lapping-up the conditions with places changing in both classes, Beth Elliott and Finlay Williams taking first place, Ross and Caleb Aylen second, and Tom and Ed Philpot third.  Robert Gutteridge was first in the Lasers, followed by Harry Swinbourne.

 

Tuesday’s racing was in slightly lighter winds and once again Newson was first in the Toppers, with Abigail Hayes second and Henry Spooner third.   Smith and Joshua Aiken gained first place in the Topazes whilst Thomas Aiken and Jude Aylen got a creditable second place, with Owen Hooper and Robbie Jay third.  The 405’s saw the same order of finish as Monday but in the Lasers it was Swinbourne that displaced Gutteridge for top spot.

 

Wednesday’s cruise was blown off, resulting in games all day, and continuing strong winds on Thursday saw a shuffle of the programme to make that a games day too.  This resulted in the last two races being held on Friday, with Spooner taking the winning gun in the morning in the Topper class.  Smith and Joshua Aiken continued to dominate the Topazes, but with some tactical sailing by the Philpot brothers in the 405 class they took a comfortable win; Gutteridge reclaiming top spot in the Lasers.

 

The final race, in the afternoon, saw Newson get his third win, Smith and Joshua Aiken repeated their morning glory, whilst the Aylen brothers had a convincing win in the 405’s.  Gutteridge also mirrored his earlier victory in the Laser fleet.

 

Those Cadets and Otters that were just learning to sail were given training whilst the racing was underway.  At Saturday’s Cadet Party the overall team results were given out and the following trophies presented: