Inaugural Young Guns Mermaid Regatta Success

Published 01:00 on 29 Aug 2024

Over the Bank Holiday, the clubs youth membership chartered the mermaids for the inaugural Young Guns Regatta. 8 races over two days, with a good social calendar alongside. 

After welcome drinks on Saturday, the racing got underway at 13:20 on Sunday afternoon off Seagrove Bay, in a puffy 20kts+. The course length was set at 0.6nm, with two lap races planned. During the first two races, there was an obvious pressure difference over the race course, with the breeze on the right-hand side a few knots less than the left. This significantly affected the tactics, with some boats not realising this until it was too late. Tiger Tellwright very much did realise this, taking 3 wins from 3 on the first day of racing. Others in the mix included Thomas Youngman, Ben Clayden, Barnaby Cotterell and Nate Bottomley all trading the remaining podium places. The race committee curtailed racing after three races, after gusts of up to 35kts were recorded on the race course. 

Tension was high on Monday morning, thanks to a combination of severe hangovers, a controversial protest decision on Sunday evening, and the limited time available to fit in the 5 remaining races today. Having initially set up on a beat length of around 0.9nm, the race committee settled on a course length of around 0.8nm for racing. Tiger Tellwright won race 4 from Barnaby Cotterell and Nate Bottomley (both seeking revenge after the protest decision yesterday). Race 5 was a general recall off the line (there was always bound to be one!) ending the run of clean starts so far. Matt Shaw usurped Tiger Tellwright to take the win, with Senan Bottomley in 3rd (staging a comeback after a disappointing first day). Race 6 was dominated by constant left-hand shifts on the race course where you had to be in the right place to benefit. Tiger Tellwright won ahead of Senan Bottomley and Thomas Youngman. Race 7 started just 35 minutes before the 13:00 cut-off for racing, with lots of questions asked as to whether the committee could squeeze the final race in. Annabelle Youngman and Matt Shaw were U flag disquified on this one, and after a substantial shift of the course onto a new left-hand bearing, Tiger Tellwright came in ahead of Thomas Youngman and Barnaby Cotterell. The final warning signal was made in time, by one minute, at 12:59 thanks to the work of the RO Jeremy Spencer-Cooper. A shorter 3-lap race ensued on a shorted, more Grand Prix-like course. Tiger Tellwright, unsurprisingly, won ahead of Ben Clayden and Barnaby Cotterell.

Prize giving followed after the few remaining protests were withdrawn, and very many congratulations to the winners:

1st: Tiger Tellwright

2nd: Ben Clayden (1st Seaview Helm)

3rd: Thomas Youngman

1st U21 Helm: Senan Bottomley (4th)

1st Lady Helm: Annabelle Youngman (9th)

The Organising Committee would like to thank the very generous sponsor who underwrote the dinner, Nick Hewitt, the Race Committee (Jeremy Spencer Cooper, Jo Haigh and Caspar Gray), and the Protest Committee (Robert Lidbury, Caroline Simonds and Simon North) for their time and assistance to enable the event to run. It was great to see all 13 Mermaids thrashing around the patch in a highly competitive fleet, and we hope you will all join us again next year.