Breezy conditions for the 50 teams at Oxford Sailing Club
This weekend (18-19 October) winning glory went to 'Gingernut and Assorted Biscuits' and team '420' as they were crowned 2014 RYA Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing champions in their respective events.
The biggest team racing event in the world was held at Oxford Sailing Club, Farmoor Reservoir, with 23 Junior (under 16) teams and 27 Youth (under 19) teams competing for championships honours.
Following a full day's racing on Saturday with 10 rounds completed on both the Youth course with Fireflies and the Junior RS Feva course, standings started phenomenally close on the Sunday. The Youth fleet saw 11 of the 27 teams fighting for seven places that make up the Gold A Fleet, while there were three teams in the Junior fleet who had all lost only one race each.
However, with Sunday bringing gusts of up to 42 knots, racing soon came to a close at lunchtime after only one more round of stage one was possible, resulting in the event winners being decided from the final standings in the round robin stages.
John Burgoigne, Event Director, commented: "What an action-packed weekend! With over 300 young sailors taking part, the enthusiasm for the RYA Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing Championships was once again in abundant evidence this year.
"Obviously we would have preferred sailing to have continued through the full schedule but we're pleased to have got so many races successfully completed before conditions brought things to a close. The quality of sailing was impressive and the conditions challenging.
"With the continued support of the Eric Twiname Trust, we look forward to seeing so many passionate young sailors again next year."
Junior results:
1st: Gingernut & Assorted Biscuits (Hayling Island SC/Royal Torbay YC)
James Hammett, Piers Nicholls, Finley Armstrong, Ben Todd, Freddie Wood, Dan Armstrong
2nd 420 (Datchet Water Sailing Club /Frensham Pond SC)
Alex Smallwood, Ross Thompson, Ben Shorrock, Johnny Thompson, Harry Fitzsimmons, George Bridge
3rd RS Tera Assoc 1 Youth
Henry Jameson, Bethan Matthew, Harry Jones, Anna Petterson, Lucy Greenwood, Archie Hainsworth
Youth results:
1st 420 (Warsash SC/Royal Lymington YC/ Spinnaker Sailing Club)
Robbie King, Jo Burns, Dan Whiteley, James Clementson, Alex King, Matt Viney
2nd Sevenoaks School
Ed Haynes, Alice Kidd, George Haynes, James Rudd Jones, Remi Pfister, Tancredi Pucci
3rd Winchester College
Michael Smith, Miles Jones, Max Chapp, Tom Nottingham, TX Finney, Tiger Tellwright
© Photo Paul Wyeth/RYA