2016 Gunfleet Cadet Week - It Was Brill!!
Monday, August 15, 2016 - 17:00
MONDAY...Sunshine and a stiff west/south-westerly breeze greets the Club’s Cadets and Otters as they arrive for the start of the 2016 Gunfleet Cadet Week, sponsored by Dong Energy. Boats rigged, everyone in their wet gear, and it’s time for the briefing in the Clubhouse, whilst outside the wind continues to freshen. The four Team Captains are Cadet Rear-Commodore Tom (405), Cadet Social Secretary Beth (405), Cadet Sailing Secretary Ross (405) and Cadet Vice-Commodore Harry (Laser). Club Commodore Richard is running the racing and Claire, with the assistance of Caroline, is leading on the games. Briefing over and it’s time to look at the courses as there will be separate starts and courses for Toppers, Topazes, 405’s and Lasers; plus sail training for those Otters who are not experienced enough to take part in the racing. Points will be given to the teams on race positions, as well as a Trophy awarded for each class winner overall at the end of the Week.
First away are the Toppers and the gusty winds are the cause of a number of capsizes, starting with Isobel and then followed by Abigail, and it’s not long before Henry finds himself in the water. Ted leads from the start and sails a clean course to the windward buoy, it looks like nothing is going to stop him. By now the Topazes are under way and as they sail close hauled to the Eastcliff mark Shona and Maddie have carved out a small lead but are being hard pushed by Harrison and Joshua. Thomas and Jude have had to retire due to gear failure, and the next thing is that Alex and Matthew have returned to shore, as have Owen and Robbie. The wind is gusting well into a five and has now backed south-westerly and, as the 405’s and Lasers set off, conditions really do become a little-more lively. But these crews love it and the battle is on in the 405’s between the Aylen brothers and Beth and Finlay, with the Philpot brothers hot on their heels. In the Lasers it looks like a real tight tussle between Harry and Robert.
Results – Class Points 1:
Toppers:
1. Ted Newson
All other entries retired.
Topazes:
1. Shona Goodchild & Maddie Corbett
2. Harrison Smith & Joshua Aiken
3. Will Swain Murrison & Francesca Cottee
405’s:
1. Beth Elliott & Finlay Williams
2. Ross & Caleb Aylen
3. Tom & Ed Philpot
Lasers:
1. Robert Gutteridge
2. Harry Swinbourne
Lunch is a real favourite – Bangers and Mash, plus peas, followed by fruit. It’s then into the Teams and on with the games. First one is the “All Aboard” game with each team completing a course with one Topaz per team, sailed initially by just one team member, then pick up a second team member and do the course again, pick up the next team member (so now we have three people on each boat. The teams just continue....four people....five people....six people...it’s getting a bit wobbly....seven people....eight people....oh..oh... everyone’s getting rather low in the water...and the winning Team is Beth’s Beach Roots, well done; second is Ross’s A-Team, third is Harry’s Boom Breakers, and fourth is Tom’s Eight Salty Nutters. So how did the Boom Breakers get their name? Well just as this first game gets underway “Muscle-man” Robert sheets the boom of the team’s Topaz in and snap – it breaks clean in half!! Well, a boom is borrowed temporarily and, by the next morning, good old Dave has built a new Topaz boom. Anyway, back to Monday’s games.
Next it is the “Mid-Flow-Boat-Swap”, a cunning game that has two members of one team sailing one way round the course, and two members of another team sailing the opposite way round the course. And when the two boats meet the team members have to swap boats before returning to the shore where the next two team members jump in the boat and repeat the exercise – it all sounds quite simple!! The four team boats set off – two in one direction and two in the other, make sure you don’t capsize. Maybe this isn’t the time to say it’s all going swimmingly! Gosh, the crews prove really agile and soon master coming alongside and swapping over. This time it’s the A-Team that get first place, followed by Beth’s Beach Roots, then joint third come the Boom Breakers and Eight Salty Nutters. After all that hard work it’s time for a cake break, and the wonderful array of cakes, provided very generously by so many Club members, are soon hoovered-up!
Game three now, and it is the “Water Balloon Sail”. There go the four team Topazes, with three team members aboard each, out to Rescue Boat-2, moored at the AWS buoy, to pick up a token each. They sail back to the shore, and it is neck and neck, a team member jumps out and exchanges the token for loads of balloons filled with water. The non-sailing team members run along the beach, careful, don’t drop any, whilst the Topazes sail up round Eastcliff buoy and into the beach to collect the balloons. A very impressive run by everyone and there is hardly a balloon burst; now it is your turn, sailors, to get those balloons back to the Club on your Topazes, without losing any. Golly, look at those boats fly along – now that is impressive, and as they land it seems the balloons are mostly intact. Well, the balloons have been counted, and points awarded for most balloons and order of finish, and then it’s time to throw those water balloons at each other and have great fun getting soaked. First is Beth’s Beach Roots, second is the A-Team, third is the Boom Breakers and fourth are the Eight Salty Nutters.
The International Code Flag O is hoisted – everyone out the water and off the beach – time to get changed and toddle-off home.
The end of a brilliant first day, but what are the scores, including the race results? Well....
1. Beth’s Beach Roots 92
2. The A-Team 83
3. Eight Salty Nutters 76
4. The Boom Breakers 75
TUESDAY...Day 2, and it looks like a good one. Sure it’s a bit overcast but it’s warm and there’s a really good sailing breeze. Ricard and Claire welcome everyone to the second briefing of the Week and then it’s on with the morning’s racing; whilst those not racing have their sail training course.
For the Toppers it’s a small course of X – AWS – ODM – AWS – ODM /Line with 4 laps and, as with yesterday, Ted takes an early lead as the fleet beats to the windward mark. Further back, positions are changing frequently, and there is a real fight for the next two positions. Five minutes after the Toppers get underway it is the turn of the Topazes. Harrison and Joshua make the first leg, to the Eastcliff buoy, look easy, but they can’t relax as they have Owen and Robbie literally snapping at their feet. It is then out to Seaward, a gybe, and don to Kingscliff before beating back through the line; with 3 laps to complete. The 405’s and Lasers all get a very tight start, five minutes after the Topazes, and The Aylen boys are looking really good, Beth and Finlay having a real battle on their hands to get in front. Robert leads Harry in the Lasers, and what a magnificent sight to see all the 405’s reaching out to Seaward with their asymmetric kites flying. In some smart moves these boats gybe offshore and head into the AWS buoy, kites still flying – very impressive. Back out to Seaward, a second gybe, and a reach down to Kingscliff before a beat back through the line; two laps for these craft. At the end of the first lap Robert has a good lead in the Laser fleet, and Beth and Finlay have managed to get in front of Ross and Caleb in the 405’s. However, during the second lap Harry drives his Laser into top spot and things then settle down until the end.
Results – Class Points 2:
Toppers:
1. Ted Newson
2. Abigail Hayes
3. Henry Spooner
Topazes:
1. Harrison Smith & Joshua Aiken
2. Thomas Aiken & Jude Aylen
3. Owen Hooper & Robbie Jay
405’s:
1. Beth Elliott and Finlay Williams
2. Ross & Caleb Aylen
3. Tom & Ed Philpot
Lasers:
1. Harry Swinbourne
2. Robert Gutteridge
The racing is over, there is a loud horn, and the International Code Flag F flutters from the yardarm – the signal that lunch is ready (F for Food). Today it’s Pasta in sauce, with garlic bread and potato and onion bake – smells wonderful and tastes even better.
The afternoon arrives, and with it comes a host of games. First is “Hidden Parts” – earlier in the day the many games helpers buried plastic bottles in the sand in the next bay with each one containing the name of a Topaz part – such as boom, rudder, jib, mainsail etc. There are four squares of sand marked out with a full set of bottles in each. First the Teams decide who is going on the water and who is staying on the shore. The landlubbers cart all the Topaz parts for their boat to the next bay and put them by their square. The four bare Topazes are being paddled around to the next bay by three team members – they are going great guns with various methods of propulsion being used – hands and feet. Now they have landed, the remainder of each team can start digging in their square to unearth the bottle, and it’s not long before one or two bottles are being brought to the surface; so it’s an exchange of the bottle for the boat part and run it down to the Topaz. Hang on, you can’t put the mast up without the jib as you will have to take it down again. One or two bottles are proving an absolute devil to find but the teams dig fast and furious. Some of the Topazes are now rigged and after being checked over by the helpers are on their way home – it’s going to be a close run thing between Ross’s and Beth’s lot with Tom’s team coming third and Harry’s group fourth.
Having worked up quite an appetite it’s just perfect that we stop for a cake-break, and once again there is a fantastic selection of yummy treats.
And now it’s time to “Bring Back the Balls”. Rescue Boat-1 heads out to sea with literally 100’s of plastic balls and drops around 100 over the side. The four Topazes, each with two team members on board, go chasing after the balls with the aim of collecting as many as possible and returning them safely to shore to be counted. Then another hundred balls are dropped out at sea and two new team members from each team sail out and bring back oodles of balls. And so it goes on until every team member has been out to sea and retrieved as many balls as they can for their team. Wow, there are some impressive numbers being counted!
All too soon Code Flag O is flying from the yardarm and boats are packed away, many young hands help get the Rescue Boats up into the compound, and it’s the end of another great day; let’s see what Wednesday brings. But first....what are the Team scores for today?
1. The A-Team 32
1. The Boom Breakers 32
3. Beth’s Beach Roots 30
4. Eight Salty Nutters 23
WEDNESDAY...It looks like everyone is waking-up to the wind today, just a bit too much for safe sailing, and today was planned to be our cruise to St. Osyth day. Arriving down at the Club the sea is certainly rather lively and the gusts of wind are heading to the top of the 20’s (mph). A quick conflab amongst the organisers and it is agreed we will not do the cruise but we will do all the games on the beach, in front of the Club, plus a few more to make-up for the lack of sailing.
The first game is the swimming race and after a magnificent effort by everyone to get Rescue Boat 2 launched the buoy is laid and the Teams queue-up to swim, as fast as they can, out to sea and back. Mmmm... maybe we need to move the buoy a little closer to shore as the Otters are finding it quite a challenge! Everyone is going flat-out as they race to the buoy, touch it with their hand, and then head back to the shore, at which time the next team member dives in.
Whilst all this is going on, the Games Helpers are busy gathering all sorts of interesting bits and bobs (big bits and bobs at that) ready for the next game – the Obstacle Course. The plan is that each team is given a variety of very interesting objects, such as tyres, buoys, wheelbarrows, trolleys, blocks of wood....the list is endless, and they have to build an obstacle course. Now before anyone gets too excited, on completion of these courses they will be randomly given out to each team; so you might get your course back, but then again you might not! There’s plenty of ingenuity going on with some wonderful designs. OK, so the courses are all built, and checked for safety; now for the allocation, amidst lots of laughter!! And the teams are off, busy tackling getting round the course as quickly as they can without risking injury!! There is much slight of foot and cunning methods deployed in order to speed things up a bit, but it doesn’t always go according to plan...watch out; oh, oh, too late. Oh yes, and just to make things that little bit more interesting each team member has to carry a cut down polystyrene cup of water, returning back to base with the residue and filling-up their bucket.
Game over, and it’s time for a well earned spot of lunch and, as it was supposed to be a cruise, everyone is handed a picnic bag and we all eat on the beach – al-fresco style. What a great selection the Galley Crew have provided, and plenty of it too. This break came just at the right time as the swimming, building of the obstacle course, and then getting round the whole thing too, has fair worn us all out.
After lunch it’s the Sandcastle Competition – points given for originality and size. The teams each huddle together to come up with something innovative, and designs are thrashed out. Then all four teams are off and it’s just as much fun working out what each one is building. Gosh some of the teams have got real imagination and the designs are incredibly creative. The Eight Salty Nutters have gone for height with a nice and simple approach of a heap of sand with team captain Tom standing on the top with Freddie on his shoulder – a sort of head in the clouds approach. The Boom Breakers have chosen a traditional sandcastle with plenty of turrets, a deep moat, and carefully decorated. The more avant-garde teams have really thought outside the box and Beth’s Beach Roots have created a group of very interesting sea creatures, including a turtle, octopus and a lobster, or is that a crab? The A Team have gone the extra mile and completed their interpretation of Stonehenge with a really great result.
Now for the Beach Treasure Hunt. Over 300 bottle tops have been buried in the beach and everyone is on their hands and knees, searching like crazy. Furious digging goes hand in hand with gentle sifting and the darn little things just keep popping up. You might well ask the question, did they all get found; the answer is yes, plus a few more – amazing.
There is certainly no hunting for the food in the Cake Break, a splendid selection of gourmet delights to satisfy everyone.
If we are all not too full of cake we will be having a go at the Long Jump. There are two areas marked out, one for the Otters, and the other for the Cadets. It isn’t long before we have established the best jumpers, in both groups, and soon records are being broken with Ross showing his prowess as he hurls himself into it.
Jumping over and we move onto the Wheelbarrow Race. It’s not quite as easy as it looks, especially when you are laughing so much.
The Piggy Back race is next and there are some clever tactics being played here. The teams charge down the line, and back, without too much falling over.
Finally the Multi-Legged Race provides an interesting spectacle. Armed with strips of sheet two team members tie a leg together and hot foot it down to the other end of the course. Then the next team member joins their leg to the group, and so on and so forth, until there are eight people all trying to run together. Just one snag, the bits of sheet are so old they are just tearing in two as the teams run. The whole thing descends into chaos but nobody minds as everyone has had a great day.
And there from the yardarm flies the Code Flag O, it’s time to pack-up and head off into the sunset, looking forward to day 4, but before we leave let’s have a quick peek at the scores today, and crikey it’s quite a turnaround:
1. Eight Salty Nutters 77
2. The Boom Breakers 74
3. The A-Team 62
4. Beth’s Beach Roots 54
THURSDAY...Oh dear, we’re still suffering from the wind, but it won’t stop us enjoying ourselves. The forecast for Friday looks perfect so we will move Thursday’s morning race to Friday afternoon, and concentrate on the games all today. In the shelter of the rock groyne we’re going to start off with Climbing the Mast. The Club Topaz is prepared and up we go, one at a time of course. Yes, it’s harder than it looks! Thomas does really well and gets half way up but most are struggling to make that far. Then Ross has a go and, blow me, he gets almost to the very top – golly, look at the mast bending!! Impressive or what? Not to be beaten, brother Caleb does similar and both have to be crowned winners.
It’s now time to see how many Cadets and Otters we can get on the Topaz (but not up the mast). Carefully positioning everyone results in some 20 people on board before the poor old boat starts disappearing under the waves. Suddenly there is a big splash, the Topaz has won and sits happily bobbing up and down on the water, empty, whilst everyone is swimming around in the water. A great try, but did we break the record?
More fun on the water because we are all going to have a go at kissing the bow. What’s that you might well ask? The Topaz is put on its side and, one at a time, a team member climbs on the gunwale by the daggerboard box and slides gently down towards the bow, when this is reached the person then has to kiss the bow of the boat! Is it easy? Well the only trouble is, the gunwale is slippery and as you get nearer the bow so it starts to disappear under the water!! Right, who wants to be first to try it? Gosh, there are some great attempts, and some very wet faces, and....oh...oh...splash, there goes another one into the briny.
No time to stop as it’s straight on with the next game – Save The Captain. Rescue Boat 1 goes out to the AWS buoy and moors-up, having a member of each team on board. The rest of the team get joined together by a piece of rope and have to run through the compound, up the steps to the top, down the public slope and back along the beach to the Club; but that’s not it. Having been released from their rope the team members all run back and forward from the sea to the promenade with plastic cups filled with sea water, filling a bucket. Once the bucket is full two team members sail out to the Rescue Boat with the bucket of water and exchange it for their “marooned” team member. Points are awarded for the first boat back, and also for the most water in the buckets. And any craft team that thinks they can just top the bucket up as they sail out will be in for a shock, and a disqualification, as the Commodore has his binoculars trained on them. Fun? You bet. Exhausting? Definitely? Do it again? Well maybe not today!
A lot of very wet sailors see that the code flag F is flying, and all rush up to the Clubhouse, where the galley is serving jacket potatoes with a choice of cheese or beans; followed by a jam doughnut – very tasty, very sweet. The talk is all about how high you got up the mast, who was the one that sunk the Topaz, and whether the kiss on the bow was wetter than the one granny normally gives you!
Back in action, and many thanks to all the galley crew for a smashing lunch, and now we’ve got egg rolling – no, not with your hands but with your nose. What is worse, scratching your nose on the sand or breaking the egg and having yolk up your nostrils? Well let’s find out. Each team member takes it in turn to push the egg up the course and back down again before the next team member takes over. Assistance is given by colleagues busily smoothing down the sand just ahead of the egg, but it doesn’t always quite work. Ooops, there goes another egg. Penalty point but here is another egg to carry on. The game is all too soon over but now is the time to keep clear as eggs seem to be flying!
Triathlon time and the teams soon split their groups up into swimmers, sailors and runners. First away are the swimmers, batten in hand, back to the shore, and the next swimmers take over. Arriving back at the beach the battens get passed to the sailors from each team who set off and tack up to Eastcliff buoy, round it, and scream into the beach by the cafe. Champing at the bit are the first of the team runners and they grab the batten and start sprinting along the promenade to the hand-over, when the next runner belts along to the runner waiting by the public slope. Up they run, puffing and panting, and hand the batten to the final member of the team who has to run all the way back down and along the promenade to the Club. Phew, it’s exhausting just explaining it all!
Time for a cake-break and a breather. There are some really yummy cakes today, lovely and gooey.
The Tug of War is next and it’s team versus team with the winning teams taking each other on, and the losing teams also taking each other on. This will sort the brutes out from the wimps. Gosh, there’s a lot of pulling; the rope goes this way, and then that way, and back the other way again. This is certainly very evenly matched – a fight to the bitter end. Suddenly someone stumbles and it’s all over. Now for the finals; should they really have eaten all that cake just before? Another battle ensues, a lot of red faces....and it’s a cheer for the winning team, and maybe a chair (or two) for the losers.
just got time for a bit of Wellie Throwing, and the four boots being used belong to our Commodore! There are some amazing throws and low flying aircraft are reporting a strange black rubber thing hurtling into space. As expected, the older Cadets are really putting away the miles, and in the end it's Robert that hurls a wellie the furthest.
Finally it’s Egg Throwing time. The four teams all split in half and one half goes on one side of the rope, and the other half go on the other side of another rope. The whistle is blown and everyone, on one side, leans over and hands the egg to their opposite number; that was easy. Now the rope is pulled back and the gap opens...time to throw the egg; oh, well caught everyone. The rope goes back still further, the eggs are carefully thrown, and one or two get missed – you’re out. The rope goes back still further and a few more are out. After a while there is a pretty impressive gap and the last four people, two each side, are playing serious throwing. One egg gets thrown – oh, bad luck. Now the other egg...yes it’s been caught – the winners; let’s do it all again.
At the end of the second game there is just time to jump in the sea, wash off the bits of egg before the Code flag O is broken out, which means it’s time to get changed and go home. But before we do, let’s take a quick look at today’s scores:
1. The Boom Breakers 140
2. The A-Team 128
3. Beth’s Beach Roots 113
4. Eight Salty Nutters 110
FRIDAY...WOW – the weather looks perfect – set fair, you might say. Today is catch-up on the class racing so let’s all get our boats set-up just right in order to try and gain that top spot; it looks like it could still be anyone’s trophy in all classes.
By now, the end of the week, the wet suits are feeling just a little bit damp as we slip into them, but everything will warm-up as we get on the water. Time ticks on, the boats are all afloat, and at 11:15 a.m. Code Flag Z falls from the yardarm, signalling the start of the Topper race. Henry and Ted seem to be having a good tussle as they beat to the windward mark, some impressive sailing, and good tactics being employed. Abigail is, once again, challenging the two lads.
Five minutes after the Toppers start, Code flag Y is lowered and the Topazes head to the Eastcliff mark. Owen and Robbie get a cracking good start, with Thomas and Jude almost alongside them, Matthew and Alex making up good ground a little further back.
It’s now 11:25 a.m. and as Code Flag 6 comes down, so the 405’s and Lasers beat down the coast, all tightly bunched, nobody giving an inch.
Meanwhile, in the Toppers Ted has, once again, pulled ahead but oh dear, he has gone round the ODM the wrong way, failed to realise his mistake, and therefore knocks himself out of this race. Henry and Abigail swap places, and swap again, as they reach between AWS and the ODM, both unaware of Ted’s mistake. The Toppers continue to change position as they complete their course: X – AWS – ODM – AWS – Line x 3 laps. Ted crosses the finishing line first, but to complete silence, Henry taking the winning gun.
The Topazes have a larger course: E – S – AWS – S – K – Line x 2 laps. Shona and Maddie, after a disappointing start, pull themselves up to fourth place, ahead of Will and Francesca, and Matthew and Alex, but try as they might they are not able to overtake Thomas and Jude. Meanwhile Harrison and Joshua have worked their way through the fleet and, at the end of the first lap, are leading.
The 405’s and Lasers have a slightly different course: E – S – K – S – K – Line x 2 laps. In the 405’s Ross and Caleb are ahead for a while and the 405’s all look magnificent on a reach with their asymmetric spinnakers flying. On the beat, when the wind gusts a bit, the crews are quick to get out on the wire; it certainly looks exciting from the shore. The Lasers are also busy changing positions, both Rob and Harry are finely matched and there is some very close sailing throughout the race, with Harry leading at the end of the first lap. During the second lap Robert manages to get in front of Harry and he holds that position until the end of their race.
The Topazes, on their second lap, almost have a race within a race as the leading two boats are having a tussle, as are the two Topazes behind them, and similarly with the fifth and sixth Topazes, there’s certainly a lot to play for, and it is Harrison and Joshua that take the winning gun.
At the end of the 405’s first lap Beth and Finlay are leading but very close behind are Ross and Caleb, but on the second lap it’s all change. Whilst the two leading 405’s are busy shadowing each other, Tom and Ed set a slightly different course from Eastcliff to Seaward and find themselves now in front of the others. They go on to build on this, and sail through the finish line with a comfortable win.
Whilst all this is going on the silver squad, having had some further training by Andy and Phil, are given the opportunity to helm some Toppers and Topazes, some of the squad even going out solo. They quickly show that the training has really paid-off as they get the boats to sail round a small course, making sure they avoid those racing.
Results – Class Points 4:
Toppers:
1. Henry Spooner
2. Abigail Hayes
Topazes:
1. Harrison Smith & Joshua Aiken
2. Owen Hooper & Robbie Jay
3. Thomas Aiken & Jude Aylen
405’s:
1. Tom & Ed Philpot
2. Beth Elliott and Finlay Williams
3. Ross & Caleb Aylen
Lasers:
1. Robert Gutteridge
2. Harry Swinbourne
It’s time now for a well deserved lunch-break and, as it’s the last day, it’s chicken burgers and chips, followed by Magnum ice creams – a real tasty treat for the last day.
The afternoon brings the final race, postponed from yesterday. The Toppers have a different course from this morning, it’s E – AWS – ODM – E – ODM – Line x 2 laps. Ted, disappointed by the morning’s race, gives it all he’s got and breaks away from the rest of the fleet at an early stage. Using the tide to his advantage he makes short work of the beat to the first mark, and once round goes on a very broad reach.
The Topazes have the same course as this morning and this time Tomas and Jude become the lead boat with Harrison and Joshua just behind. Matthew and Alex are certainly putting the pressure on Owen and Robbie but find it difficult to make much ground. After the first Lap we have Thomas and Jude still in first place, Harrison and Joshua second, and Shona and Maddie third. The second lap provides some ideal opportunities for a few clever tactics and first its Harrison and Joshua that slip ahead of Thomas and Jude, and then Shona and Maddie also sail past them. Further back Matthew and Alex get in front of Owen and Robbie, whilst Will and Francesca are in a very creditable fourth place.
In the Lasers Robert hold his own and remains in front of Harry throughout the race but it doesn’t stop Harry from piling-on the pressure. The 405’s once again sees Beth and Finlay get an early lead, and this time the course is bigger, taking the fleet down to St. Michaels: St. M – S – AWS – S – K – Line x 2 laps. Kites are flown again, on downwind legs, and the crews are all working hard to get every ounce of speed out of their craft. After the first lap Beth and Finlay still hold the top spot but Ross and Caleb are giving it all they have got and start to narrow the gap. Half way round the second lap and the two leading 405’s are neck and neck, and on the penultimate leg the Aylen brothers take the lead and romp home to a very satisfying win.
Results – Class Points 3 (postponed from Thursday):
Toppers:
1. Ted Newson
All other entries retired
Topazes:
1. Harrison Smith & Joshua Aiken
2. Shona Goodchild and Maddie Corbett
3. Thomas Aiken & Jude Aylen
405’s:
1. Ross & Caleb Aylen
2. Beth Elliott and Finlay Williams
3. Tom & Ed Philpot
Lasers:
1. Robert Gutteridge
2. Harry Swinbourne
So, I hear you ask, what are the overall results of the racing, remembering that everyone has one discard, and how do the results of today’s racing affect the team scores? Well I am afraid the answers to both those questions will have to wait until the announcement at tomorrow’s Cadet Week Party, do make sure you are there.
SATURDAY...it’s early evening and we are on our way to the Cadet Week Party.
There are loads of people here and the place is really rocking. It’s so good to catch-up with the other team members and talk over the week’s activities, and the mums and dads are having a good time too.
No mention of the race results, or the team scores, yet but it is now time for the Hog Roast. This is melt in the mouth pork, in a large roll, with apple sauce, stuffing, tomatoes, cucumber, and new potatoes, plus loads of amazing crackling. And if that doesn’t fill you up there are seconds, but do leave some room for that wicked chocolate gateau! What a fantastic spread, hearty congratulations to the Galley Crew who prepared and served it all, this really was a meal and a half.
Things settle down and suddenly it’s time for the results. In the racing, the final results are.......
Results – Class Points Overall:
Toppers – The Swallows Trophy:
1. Ted Newson
2.= Abigail Hayes
2.= Henry Spooner
Topazes – The Amazons Trophy:
1. Harrison Smith & Joshua Aiken
2. Shona Goodchild & Maddie Corbett
3. Thomas Aiken & Jude Aylen
405’s – The Captain Flint Trophy:
1. Beth Elliott and Finlay Williams
2. Ross & Caleb Aylen
3. Tom & Ed Philpot
Lasers – The Long John Silver Trophy:
1. Robert Gutteridge
2. Harry Swinbourne
Now, after much clapping at the trophy presentation, there is a deadly hush. Claire steps up and announces the final scores, and it is.....
1. The Boom Breakers 374
2. The A-Team 364
3. Beth’s Beach Roots 347
4. Eight Salty Nutters 329
A huge cheer erupts and then all the helpers are thanked for making the 2016 Cadet Week such a success; there is also a big thank you to the Cadet Week sponsors – Dong Energy. Then, from the back of the Club come Cadet Vice Commodore Harry Swinbourne and Cadet Rear Commodore Tom Philpot, and they do a marvellous double act with their thank you speech, and proceed to present some lovely gifts to those that helped. There is a particularly big cheer for Claire Aylen for running the games side of Cadet Week, and to Jon and Linda Meggison for providing such terrific lunches; the Cadets and Otters burnt-off a huge amount of energy during the week but still managed to put on a few pounds!!
Finally the Club Commodore hands unique 2016 Cadet Week T-shirts to all those Cadets and Otters that took part and the party then continues until late; everyone going home with happy memories of a marvellous Cadet Week.
