Seaview Race Week back stronger than ever
Published 01:00 on 27 Aug 2024
After various failed attempts in previous years, Race Week was reborn this year as a full East Wight open competition, with 6 classes racing each day compromising up to 80 boats. Alongside the traditional junior circuit, SVODs, Lasers and Mermaids each had a 5 race series over the 3 days. With healthy competition in all classes, the week has set the standard for future years.
After a short briefing on Monday, the Junior classes started first, after a brief delay whilst boats made it out to the start area next to Little Deb. The junior classes all raced round the outer trapezoid, a familiar course from previous years to keep life as simple as possible for the junior sailors. The Cadet Squad class was the biggest class with 11 boats, and continued to fight right through to the last day. Barney Edwards and Ollie Glasgow took one win a piece on the first day. The Pico fleet was a little disappointing this year with 6 boats, but was still competitive. Amelia Slinger won both races on the opening day. In the Fevas, George Cecil took both races too. The was a brilliant turnout for the Open Handicap fleets, who after an initial first beat raced on the Bunny-Brookie-16 corridor. Noah Evans started his winning streak in style on the first day, and Caroline Simonds won the SVODs race ahead of Nat Ives. It was a disappointing turnout of only 2 mermaids on day 1, where Katie Baker won ahead of Ian Prideaux.
Day 2 promised more of the same, although with the CV set up around Brookie slightly further east. The junior classes got their first race in before a strong forecast NW shift came in that meant the race course had to be relaid. George Cecil and Hamish Findlay took one race each in the Fevas, keeping them dead level in the overall series. Cameron Clarke won both Pico races cementing his position at the top. In the Cadet Squad series, Barney Edwards took both race wins on Handicap, though a mention for Ollie Glasgow and Leo Jones for taking a race each on line honours.
The open classes each had one race on the SW breeze and one race on the NW breeze. The SVODs continued to be a close battle, with Henry Cecil and Charlie Stobart-Hook taking one a piece, with Nat Ives and James Chads also in the mix. In the Lasers, Noah Evans won both races cementing his position at the top of the table, with Tom Griffiths, Charlie White, Harry White and Tom McCahon all chasing him. Ian Prideaux and Ali Dobbs won a mermaid race each, although Oli Waltham set himself up well in the points series with two 2nds.
With a strong breeze forecast tomorrow, the junior classes got three races in today, with Hamish Findlay winning the 3rd Feva race, and only half a second separating Natsumi Winser and George Cecil for 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the Picos, Henry Fisher won ahead of Cameron Clarke, again only by a very small margin. In the Cadet Squad final race, Tom Charlton won ahead of Barney Edwards by around 30 seconds.
Conditions were trickier on Wednesday, with puffs up to 23kn recorded on the race course. The junior classes only had 1 race to get in to complete the series, and so cracked straight on hiding in Seagrove Bay. All the cadet boats did extremely well just to get round the course in the trickier conditions. Leo Jones won the Cadet Squad race after a valiant comeback, but ultimately handling the series win to Barney Edwards by 1 point. The Fevas went right to the last race, with Hamish Findlay beating George Cecil to tie the series on points. Amelia Standing unfortunately retired from the final Pico race, handing the race win and overall series win to Cameron Clarke. The open classes battled the conditions to complete both their final races despite the breeze. The first race consisted of a sausage course in Priory Bay, where Charlie Stobart-Hook won ahead of Henry Cecil in the SVODs. In the Lasers, Noah Evans continued his streak, this time leading Tom Griffiths and Charlie White across the line. It was lovely to see 6 mermaids out on the final day of the Race Week regatta, with race 4 ending with Ali Dobbs in front.
All the open classes had a simple final race, with many boats simply hoping to complete the course in the heavy conditions. Finishing on the line with guns to close the regatta, Henry Cecil won the SVODs, sealing the series, Noah Evens completed the grand slam in the Laser class, and Ali Dobbs won the Mermaids, meaning that particular series had to go to count back to determine an overall order. Ian Prideaux won overall in the end. With 25 boats in the SVOD series, and 35 boats in the ILCA series, the race committee were delighted to see all classes embrace the rejuvenated regatta, and hope to see everyone again next year.
Race Week 2025 will run from Monday 11th - Wednesday 13th August.
