UK Nacra 15 Winter Championships at Weston Sailing Club
by UK Nacra 15 Class Association 29 Jan 22:25 NZDT
27-28 January 2024
UK Nacra 15 Winter Championships at Weston © Ben Harris
This weekend, Weston SC hosted the UK Nacra 15 Winter Championships - a new event for this year and the first event in the 2024 UK Nacra 15 National Series. The club has long been a hub for youth multihull sailing and is now home to seven teams in the RYA Youth Multihull class, joined this weekend by visiting teams from around the country.
Despite the promising forecast, the sailors arrived on Saturday morning to an unexpectedly frosty boat park and flat calm race area. Saturday's plan was for a maximum of 8 short sprint races, each around 15-20 minutes long. During the event briefing the wind was beginning to fill in and Race 1 was started in a light, building SE breeze.
The first race was won convincingly by the sister pairing of Anna & Charlotte Cox - earning their first race win in the class and cheers from the crowd of parents watching from onshore! The racing remained tight all day, with the fleet often separated by less than 90 seconds at the end of each race. This was highlighted in the overnight standings, which saw 8 different teams taking podium race results across the day's 7 races. Marcus King & Matthew Emerson sailed to an impressive four race wins, interrupted by bullets from Finn Caddy & Ella Harris in Race 4 and Tom Jones & Maddie Jinks in Race 5. As the fleet headed to dinner at The Prince Consort in Netley, Tom & Maddie held a narrow lead in the overall results counting an impressive string of Top 3 results.
Day 2's racing ran alongside the Weston SC club racing; the Nacra 15 fleet starting on a separate start and racing to a further windward mark around a windward/leeward course. It was great to be joined by a wide range of club boats on the water, ranging from RS800s and Dart 18s to ILCA's - all enthusiastic to welcome the youth fleet to the club.
Race 8 started in a solid 15 knot South Easterly as the sailors twin-wired up Southampton Water. From lap one, Finn & Ella stamped their authority on the race, pushing to the front of the fleet before extending their lead to the finish. Eloise Smith & Ollie Laker passed Patrick Hill & Ffion Cerrato on the final leg to take 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Race 9 followed a similar trend - this time it was Tom & Maddie who broke away from the front pack to build a comfortable lead for the win with Marcus & Matt taking second place, keeping themselves in the hunt for the overall lead. Eloise & Ollie won a three-way 'battle of the blue spinnakers' to take third place.
As the club racing fleet returned to shore the Nacra 15s began their final race. A shorter course kept the fleet close, with position changes throughout the fleet. Separated by just one point overall, Marcus & Matt lead Tom & Maddie around the last windward mark - the final downwind leg a decider for the overall win. The two boats gybed simultaneously on the lay line, drag racing to the leeward mark. Despite Tom & Maddie's best efforts, Marcus & Matt held their narrow lead to take the race win and secure their place as overall winners of the 2024 UK Nacra 15 Winter Championships on countback. Finn & Ella's final race result secured themselves third position overall just one point ahead of Eloise & Ollie.
Huge thanks to Weston SC for hosting a great event, providing an excellent base for our sailors as well as perfect spectator viewing for parents onshore, and to The Prince Consort who hosted a fantastic event dinner on Saturday evening. Our events wouldn't be possible without our parent volunteers, particularly in the race committee and safety boat this weekend.
The varied results are testament to the level of racing displayed by the fleet, with three different winners across Day 2's three races. It was impressive to see new faces taking race wins and it was great to see some of the newer pairings pushing their boats hard over the weekend. The positivity throughout the boat park on Sunday afternoon is a true sign of the great atmosphere in the Nacra 15 class - there's never been a better time to get involved in this fast, fun and friendly fleet!
If you're looking to start your journey in the most exciting youth class, get in touch... Check out our website at www.nacra15.co.uk and join our 'UK Nacra 15 Sailors' Facebook group to find out about opportunities to get involved!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | Division | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 126 | Marcus King | Mathew Emerson | Weston SC | U17M | ‑6 | 1 | 1 | (RET) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 2nd | 79 | Tom Jones | Maddie Jinks | Restronguet SC | U19Mx | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑4 | (NSC) | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| 3rd | 166 | Finn Caddy | Ella Harris | Weston SC | U19Mx | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | ‑8 | ‑9 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 29 |
| 4th | 161 | Eloise Smith | Ollie Laker | Weston SC | U19Mx | 4 | 5 | 4 | ‑7 | 2 | 3 | ‑7 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 30 |
| 5th | 162 | Tara Scully | Jacques Scully | Restronguet SC | U19Mx | 5 | ‑8 | 5 | ‑8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 35 |
| 6th | 70 | Patrick Hill | Ffion Cerrato | Weston SC | U19Mx | 3 | ‑6 | ‑6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 37 |
| 7th | 253 | Will Boalch | Eliza Prichard | Plym YC / Exe SC | U19Mx | ‑10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | (NSC) | 10 | 5 | 47 |
| 8th | 330 | Anna Cox | Charlotte Cox | Weston SC / Exe SC | U21F | 1 | 2 | ‑9 | ‑9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 51 |
| 9th | 74 | Sam Turner | Grace Buckley | Weston SC | U19Mx | 8 | ‑9 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 7 | ‑9 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 57 |
| 10th | 255 | Jeremy Landon | Henry Landon | Datchet Water SC / Bembridge SC | U21M | 9 | ‑11 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | (RET) | 7 | 10 | 72 |
| 11th | 184 | Thomas Peace | Emilia Laker | Weston SC | U17Mx | ‑11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | (RET) | 11 | 11 | 86 |