The NSSA 2007 regatta is now underway. Rebecca has been sending back brief reports so we can put up information whilst the event is on and Jeremy has emailed some pictures in a brief spare moment.
Saturday
The journey down took somewhat longer than expected due to the flooding and backlog of holiday traffic. I've yet to find out whether some people had to swap over to the boats they were towing to complete some parts of the journey. People took up to 13 hours to get down but all arrived safely in the end.
Sunday
Sunday gave a chance for a practice sail and for some it was the first time out on the sea. The size of the event and reality of sailing on Plymouth Sound was starting to hit home. Right from the start there was a strong team spirit with people helping each other.
Monday
Monday was the start of the NSSA regatta and the first racing took place. The day was windy and wet but went fairly smoothly. There were a lot of nerves coming to the surface as the youngsters took on the elements and the environment but once again team spirit was really high with help and support for each other. The Laser sailors had some of the biggest waves to contend with as they were sailing out near the breakwater. With Aircraft Carriers and other warships charging through it was quite a day and all were tired at the end of it.
Pictures from Monday are here
Tuesday
Tuesday's racing was excellent. Great sailing weather, everybody raced.
Alex Batchelor running 9th in slow handicap fleet of approximately 50. Topper guys performing well, holding positions around the 40/50 mark out of fleet of 70. Laser Radials (Rob and Adam) struggling in big wind and chop outside the outer breakwater. Very tiring conditions for them with waves much bigger than they are used to. A baptism of fire for them! The girls are very glad they swapped to Laser 4.7 rigs.
Colin is having a ball on rescue boat duty with Richard / son Paul alternating with him. He's getting tired though and the team have told him he's resting tomorrow!
Wednesday
The only racing going on was the Mount Haes Trophy where teams submitted one or more crews to race Topper Xenons (double hander). Congratulations to Adam and Rob who paired up and got a second place in the first heat although they unfortunately didn't do so well in the semi-finals.
The Topper procession and flag waving went very well with coverage at least on local television. Jon's mum Helen got the aquatic award for single handedly bringing the boats in by wading into the water in her normal clothes. Due to a slight hiccup involving forgetting the trolley which had boat parts and sailing clothes, an astonishing time of 10 mins was achieved to rig the boats, get changed and launch the boats. Team spirit prevailed in all helping to achieve this.
These are the sail numbers. If anyone sees a picture of them can they let me know please (see below).
Will Adams - Topper 45863
Alexandra Batchelor - Laser 4.7 188195
Rebecca Bradley - Laser 4.7 129814
Jon Cooper - Topper 45862
Robert Cottrell - Laser Radial 187492
Fiona Fletcher - Topper 45848
Adam Parry - Laser Radial 75204
Alexander Patterson - Topper 8609
Alexandra Stringer - Topper 45849
Hannah Thompson - Topper 45861
Katie Washington - Topper 45852
Thusday
Unfortunately the weather is not being kind and not giving good sailing opportunities. The only racing on today is the postponed single hander from yesterday. The wind is strong and gusty with 180 degree direction changes.
Friday
Only 2 races today due to bad weather.
Everyone has done really well over a tough week. Congratulations particularly to Alexandra Batchelor for achieving 10th place overall in the slow handicap fleet and on receiving the Hayward Tankard trophy for the best placed Leicestershire sailor. Congratulations also to Hannah Thompson who was nominated for the Presidents award and received a place on the one week trip on an Americas cup yacht.
There are lots of pictures up on the NSSA site. See Rob and Adam in the Mount Haes Trophy here and in the following few pictures - also pictures 48 to 50. Please email me any links or picture numbers that you find on the NSSA site and I'll add them.
Rebecca will produce a full report once she's had a hot bath, dried out and slept for a few days!
The Plymouth Youth Sailing Club site has lots of information on the event, including results when available. Navigate using the links down the left side.
There is also coverage on ChewTV , (Youth run Broadband TV)
Pictures here
Please email me a link if you spot any of the LRYSA group on the NSSA or other sites so that I can put them up here.
Tony
