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NSSA National Youth Regatta gets underway at Carsington

22 July 2008

The event has been organised by Derbyshire Youth Sailing and is hosted by Carsington Sailing Club and Severn Trent Water.

250 competitors sailing in Topper, Laser and Handicap fleets enjoyed very favourable weather on the first day of the regatta. Clear sunny skies and a moderate 10 to 15 knot breeze allowed a brisk start to racing after a competitor welcome and briefing in the event marquee.

The Topper fleet comprising of 88 boats was the first fleet on the water along with the mixed boats in the slow handicap fleet. After a short break for lunch while the Laser and fast handicap fleets continued with a second race back to back, the Topper and slow handicap fleets set sail for their second race at 14:00. The wind and the sunshine held out for a fantastic afternoon of racing, certainly the best that the Derbyshire organisers could have hoped for.

The racing in the Topper fleet on day one was a close competition between James Wilson of Norfolk, Tom Britton of Yorkshire and Georgina Povall, also of Norfolk. The Topper race was started in two flights with Alistair Humphries of Lancashire winning the first flight's race. Alistair came seventh in the afternoon's race dropping him to fifth overall, with James Wilson of Norfolk sailing to a clear lead in the second flight's afternoon race. Certainly a very close competition between the top five will follow during the rest of the week with the rest of the fleet hot on their heels.

Dylan Noble of Yorkshire currently leads the Laser fleet, with two second places in both the morning and afternoon's races. His competition; Duncan Jenkins of Herefordshire and Thomas Tindall of Yorkshire won one race each in the morning and afternoon, placing them in second and third place respectively. Julia Beck of Yorkshire and Jonathan Pakes of Milton Keynes & Bucks lead the Laser Radial fleet, both on four points. The slow handicap fleet has been dominated by the RS Feva of Alison Greenan & Elena Gaddes of the Lancashire Team, scoring a first place in the morning race and a second in the afternoon. Joshua Haynes of Derbyshire, sailing his Optimist on local waters won the afternoon race, obviously more close competition to come! There is everything to sail for in the fast handicap fleet where Craig McCarthy and James Hadden, both of Derbyshire currently lead the fleet, although the winners of both the morning and afternoon races of this fleet are placed in the top third of the fleet.

For the second year at an NSSA regatta, a rookie fleet has afforded sailors that are new to racing a chance to compete and improve their skills. The racing, which is run on a smaller course on calmer waters is currently led by Thea Keller of Norfolk, with Emma Pingstone of Worcestershire sailing to a glorious victory in this afternoon's sunshine.

The sailors were fortunate enough to be welcomed to the event on arrival, by single hander offshore yachtswoman, Katie Miller. Katie was very impressed by the overall feeling of anticipation and hunger to get sailing, even as the competitors were arriving at the week long event. With a busy schedule of her own, Katie was in Derbyshire for one day as she is the skipper aboard an offshore yacht for the Ellen MacArthur Trust, providing sailing experiences for children suffering from cancer. While at Carsington, Katie gave a short talk to the NSSA sailors, telling of her recent win in the bluQube 1000 Solo race, which is a one thousand-mile, single-handed race in offshore yachts. Katie took the opportunity to talk with many of the young sailors who had travelled to Derbyshire from as far away as Devon and Cumbria, to find out about their racing sailing and what they were hoping to achieve in the NSSA event. The sailors enjoyed meeting Katie and were amazed to think of being alone on a boat for three weeks, sailing day and night and then winning the race as well.

One of the competitors, Alex Batchelor, was rigging her Laser 4.7 dinghy in the boat park and was more than happy when Katie asked her to show her about how to rig her boat. Katie has recently acquired a Laser dinghy and was keen to find out more about the tips and hints for rigging and setting up her Laser.

Katie said "I have had a really great day here at the event and I am sad that I can't stay longer. Seeing all the activity and the boats getting ready has really inspired me to go out on my Laser dinghy as soon as possible. I hope all the sailors have a really great event and I will be looking on the websites to see how they get on - especially Alex. It was really kind of her to help me."

Event Director Ian Bell said: "It was wonderful that Katie could be here with us to welcome the sailors and their Team Managers as they arrived.

"The weather might give us one or two challenges with the winds forecast to ease in mid week but the volunteer team are ready to handle it and we are really grateful to them and to all of our supporters and sponsors for their hard work in planning the event. Now it is time to enjoy seeing the competitors out there on Carsington Water competing and having fun themselves and it will all be worth it."

The racing concludes on Friday afternoon with a planned ten races over four out of five days this week. Wednesday is set aside for the prestigious Mount Haes Trophy in which different NSSA Teams compete in a knock-out series in Xenon Dinghies, which are provided by Topper Sailboats. A single-handed trophy is sailed for in Toppers, and an all-comers race allows Team Managers to chance their skills against some of the talented youth sailors.

Other visitors are set to come to the event later in the week, including Niki Birrell, currently in Skandia Team GBR who will be competing in the 2008 Paralympic sailing event.

Spectators are welcome to visit Carsington Water over the next few days to see the spectacle of more than 250 youth sailors out on the race courses.

The Regatta is an annual event that is held in a different location each year, attracting youth sailors of all abilities and ages, a totally inclusive event. The competitors are camping on-site at Carsington, and are managed by local area groups that bring them to the event from all over the UK.

Above photo used coutesy of NSSA photographer Mike Shaw.