Brothers and Sisters race it out in youth sailing regatta

Sunday saw the annual youth sailing regatta at Penzance Sailing Club. The sailors were sailing in two categories – the Mary Wales for the under 14s and the Cadet Cup for the under 18s.

To make the sailing as fair as possible, all sailing took place in our clubs fleet of training Topaz. In almost perfect conditions; a north-westerly force 3; sailing took place in two heats with the first and second competitors of each heart going through to the final.

First to sail was the Mary Wales fleet of under 14 sailors. The first heat was won by Robert Knee with Grace Wilkin taking second; these two went through to the final. In the second heat Henrietta Wilkinson was on line for a clean win, however, on the last beat Thomas Hickson caught up and the two sailors battled their way to the finish. This close racing allowed Nathan Trewern to come through to take the lead before the lead changed again with Thomas and Henrietta finally taking the one – two.

With the line up for the final sorted the four sailors raced for the Mary Wales Cup, after a quick 15 minute race Robert Knee came in first closely followed by Henrietta Wilkinson.

With no time to waste, the sailors swapped boats again to start the heats for the Cadet Cup. In the first heat Rebecca Knee came through in first with Henrietta Wilkinson, fresh from the Mary Wales, in second. In the second heat Robert Knee came in first with Ben Wilkinson second. This set up an interesting final with brother and sister racing brother and sister with Robert and Rebecca Knee racing Henrietta and Ben Wilkinson.

In the final race of the day, Ben soon took the lead with Robert and Henrietta close behind and Rebecca initially left behind. After the first beat Rebecca had made up ground and made it into third with brother Robert now in the lead. With close racing at the front of the fleet, the lead clanged a number of times between Robert and Ben. Then on the final leg Rebecca out sailed the others, coming through into first closely followed by Robert in second, Ben in third and Henrietta on forth.

This event came at the end of a highly successful season which has seen our club run sailing sessions for both Mounts Bay and Humphy Davy Schools with a total of over 100 students; new to sailing; taking to the water since June alone. For more details about learning to sail next session visit www.pzsc.org.uk/youthsailing

Results

Mary Wales – under 14

Heat 1
1st – Robert Knee
2nd – Grace Wilkin
3rd – Becca Stephens

Heat 2
1st – Thomas Hickson
2nd - Henrietta Wilkinson
3rd - Nathan Trewern

Final
1st - Robert Knee
2nd - Henrietta Wilkinson
3rd - Thomas Hickson
4th – Grace Wilkin

Cadet Cup – under 18

Heat 1
1st - Rebecca Knee
2nd - Henrietta Wilkinson
3rd - Jack Louineau
4th - Iona Jordan

Heat 2
1st - Robert Knee
2nd - Ben Wilkinson
3rd - Katherine Sharp

Final
1st - Rebecca Knee
2nd - Robert Knee
3rd - Ben Wilkinson
4th - Henrietta Wilkinson