ILCA Thames Valley Travellers Series Open at Frensham Pond Sailing Club
by Rob Beere 9 Sep 23:41 NZST
8 September 2024
25 ILCAs across 3 rigs gathered at a millpond-still Frensham on Sunday 8th September for our annual event, part of the Thames Valley Travellers Series. It didn't look promising but Race Officer Megan Pascoe promised us a full day of sailing - and she delivered.
After a short postponement a slight breeze arrived at 1130 and the ILCA7s, with 16 entries, went off with a clean start. Soon after the 8 ILCA6s and the single ILCA4 also started cleanly.
In the ILCA7s, after a tussle for the lead Kat Gilbert asserted herself to win race 1, ahead of Rebecca Videlo. In race 2, which was run back to back with race 1 before lunch, Kat and Rebecca continued to show mastery in the shifty light winds with another 1st and 2nd.
In the ILCA6s, Tristan Harding dominated by taking the bullet in both the pre-lunch races. Callum Aldridge took 2nd in the first race with Emily Shears taking 2nd in the second race. The solo ILCA4 sailed by Jai Mutreja raced with the ILCA6s, giving him the chance to try to beat some of the larger rigs.
Lunch was provided by the excellent catering team at Frensham during an extremely heavy downpour of monsoon like rain, which all competitors were grateful to miss. The fleet then ventured out in the afternoon to sunshine and a little bit more wind.
In the ILCA7s, Rob Beere made a flying start in race 3 and was able to hold the lead until the finish, just ahead of Kat Gilbert. Kat had now done enough to secure the overall event, so retired to shore before the 4th race. This allowed a few different faces to come to the front, with Andrew Hill-Smith in the lead most of the way for race 4, only to be pipped for the win on the last leg by Edward Clifford.
In the ILCA6s, Tristan remained dominant winning both race 3 and race 4. A truly clean sweep. Emily and Callum shared honours for 2nd place with each coming second in one of the two afternoon races. Jai won the ILCA4 races.
Overall Results:
ILCA7
1st Kat Gilbert (FPSC)
2nd Rebecca Videlo (FPSC)
3rd Neil Crosby (Bowmoor SC)
ILCA6
1st Tristan Harding (FPSC)
2nd Emily Shears (Reading SC)
3rd Callum Aldridge (Hayling Island SC)
ILCA4
1st Jai Mutreja (Datchet Water SC)