Ely Cadets Succeed at National Regatta
Published 19:01 on 27 Jul 2024
4 sleepy cadets have returned from the National Schools Sailing Association regatta that took place this week on Bassenthwaite Lake. Equipped with shiny boat stickers, Ely SC t-shirts and NSSA hoodies, a few of our cadets embarked on their latest sailing challenge.
This annual week-long regatta, this year hosted by Bassenthwaite Sailing Club, brings together youngsters from across England to test their skills on huge and beautiful water with different conditions and lots of competitors.
A stark contrast to our little water at Ely and competing with sailors from all over England, our cadets did Ely Sailing Club proud! Despite having to camp, disco, make new friends and 101 other demands, the sailing skill on display was incredible. Apparently so were card playing skills on the evenings from the reports we've had!
A lack of wind at the start of the week saw Fergus smash the first few days with his impressive light wind skills. Edward and Jash were keen to stay hot on his heels though with the Ely Topper lads proving keen to stay as close together as possible in the results. Edward managed to sneak in front of Fergus on the final days though with some gustier conditions playing to his skill set! Jash, Edward and Fergus did amazingly in the Topper Fleet with incredible results and supported each other all the way throughout. Perhaps a few instances of recapping the rules but that's all part of the fun.
Kieran was competing in the ILCA6 fleet with his beautiful blue hull and sailing skills many of us aspire to. Kieran had to put the work in to recover from a marginal OCS early on but his efforts paid off and he came 8th overall in the ILCA6 fleet. Despite being a smaller county, the 4 Ely sailors, alongside Cam, Grafham & Hunts sailors all sailed incredibly and proved that a small county doesn't mean a weak one with a second place for Cambridgeshire!!! A huge well done to Kieran, Jashan, Edward and Fergus for the individual, club and county success. We all want to grow up to be like you and, of course, the grown ups might be a little jealous. Hopefully the cadets have developed friendships, camping skills, sailing skills and sportsmanship through this week and it'll be great to see what they bring back to Roswell... maybe even pink war paint for trophy races?
Next year the NSSA Regatta Week moves to Rutland Water. Much closer to home! It would be great to see more Ely cadets joining Team Cambridgeshire. The regatta has a rookie fleet for those cadets who are no as experienced and will get some coaching. The cadets camp for the week, get to know their Cambridgeshire team mates, take part in socials and generally have an awesome start to the Summer break.
Official Results: https://bassenthwaite-sc.org.uk/?fbclid=IwY2xjawESEglleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSkIGqdbPaKIZCZ9OQSmwwXHuAhDNmAUPyW8-aIiBmLouYJ4q5_dPc1UCw_aem_FJ25qOwd8aR5FB5t3K_pTw
Last updated 10:33 on 18 August 2024