Please select your home edition
Edition
Savvy Navvy 2024

Chipmates Mid-Summer Regatta at Chipstead Sailing Club

by Simon Gillow & Rebecca Asker 2 Jul 06:17 UTC 29 June 2024

Chipmates, the Junior Class at Chipstead SC, held a successful mid-summer regatta on 29th June 2024. With 67 boats registered for the morning and a tight schedule planned for the day, it was decided to push on for a 10am start despite the distinct lack of wind.

It was to be a theme for the day, the wind arriving in fits and starts with the club weather meter measuring winds averaging about 3mph and reaching a maximum of 10mph.

The main fleet got under way with Daniel in his Laser making the best of a puff in the early stages of the race to pull out a good lead over the slower boats, he was followed by Jim in his Radial and then a tussle between the 3 Toppers of Jonathan S, Harry T and Harry D. Lead Optimists, Adam and Sophie sailed as if attached by elastic - the gap between them bouncing back and forwards as they found the puffs and wind holes. The regatta fleet was led by two of New Beacon School's Teras, Lucas and Charlie P who made the best of the conditions followed by Optimists James and Amy who did a good job of making sure the faster boats didn't pull too far ahead of them. Results for race 1 saw James take the bullet followed by the Teras.

Race 2 ran back to back with the first race and started in what was possibly the biggest puff of the day. As before, Daniel managed to extend a good lead, navigating well through the large packs of slower boats without challenge. The chasing pack saw a close battle between Toppers Jonathan S, Evie, Mim, Amelia, Harry T and Harry D, who all finished within 40 seconds of each other, Amelia (Tonbridge Town SC) just pipping the others on the line. Meanwhile, Adam once again made sure the Toppers didn't get too far ahead of him and managed to take 2nd on handicap. Overall results for the morning saw Daniel win the main fleet with Adam second and Jonathan S (Tonbridge Town SC) in third. In the Regatta fleet, new racer James in the Optimist won overall, the consistency of birthday boy Giacomo rewarded with second place and Charlie P in third.

Meanwhile, after being towed to the far end of the lake, the Optimist Beginner fleet of ten children who started sailing this season (some only a couple of weeks ago!) took part in a series of activities and competitive races to test their boat handling skill. Joshua came a very comfortable first with Elliott and Moisés following in second and third places respectively. The fleet was back on shore in plenty of time to be the first of the 120 who enjoyed a terrific lunchtime BBQ organised by Helen.

Keen to make the most of having the whole lake for the day, the afternoon was billed as a Double Hander Extravanganza. In addition to double handers owned by Club and visiting families, Wealden Sailability, Westerham Sea Cadets and Chipstead SC classes loaned boats for the event for which Juniors paired up with one another, parents, grandparents or siblings.

Visiting father and son pair Jonathan and Stuart (TTSC) led the first race in their Wayfarer from the outset, followed by Daniel and Ben (CSC Juniors) in a class Graduate ahead of CSC father and son duo, Jim and Mark in an RS Quest. Honor and Peter - the only daughter and dad pair - sailed their Comet Duo pretty close to the bigger boats but well-timed spinnaker use by Adam and Jenson in the Gillow Family Mirror kept them in touch with the faster boats. Race 1 was won by the Mirror with the Coopers' Comet Duo in second and the Shields' Wayfarer third. The second race was to be the lightest of the day with the wind almost disappearing towards the end leaving the Tonbridge visitors without enough wind to fill their spinnaker on the final run allowing the Graduate past. The action in this race was from the smaller boats behind the front runners; the Hansa 303s sailed by Harry and Graeme and Joshua and Fiona were the best at finding the zephyrs so took first and second respectively on handicap from the Mirror. Adam and Jenson - sailing together for the first time - were delighted to win the event (and to beat their brothers).

Whilst the wind may have been lacking, the enthusiasm of the sailors and supporters definitely wasn't! A good-sized crowd stayed on for prize-giving with many attendees dragging themselves out of the lake where they'd been making the most of a post-packing-up opportunity for a swim to feast upon delicious dinghy-themed cakes baked by Kelly. The Juniors were joined by Rear Commodore Keith Turtle who presented a fabulous range of well-received prizes provided by event sponsors c-monsta, Noble Marine, Rooster and local company Sea Clean UK.

Prize Winners:

Beginner Optimist fleet
1st - Joshua G
2nd - Elliott R
3rd - Moisés

Regatta fleet
1st overall/1st boy - James
1st girl - Alice
1st under 11 - Joe
1st CSC rookie - Giacomo
1st school sailor - Charlie P

Main fleet
1st overall/1st boy - Daniel
1st girl - Amelia
2nd boy - Adam
2nd girl - Mim
3rd boy - Jonathan S
3rd girl - Sophie S

Double Hander Extravaganza
1st overall/all boy boat - Adam & Jenson
1st all girl boat - Marine & Mia
1st sibling boat - Abbi & Sophie
1st Junior helm with an adult crew - Joshua & Fiona
1st mixed (experienced/novice) - Jonathan & Indigo

Related Articles

Chipstead Firefly Open
As thrilling and competitive event as ever and the sun came out to boot The Firefly Open 2024 at Chipstead Sailing Club was as thrilling and competitive event as ever and the sun came out to boot. Not bad for the first day of September. Posted on 6 Sep
Chipmates camp at Chipstead
Rafts, treasure hunts, racing, sailing games, cardboard boat challenge and more Chipstead Sailing Club's Junior Class held its annual Chipmates camp at the end of July which was a huge success. Forty children aged 7-14 took part in a whole host of on the water activities under the guidance of Izzy Cobb's team of junior instructors. Posted on 5 Aug
Bough Beech & Chipstead Interclub Competition R1
Encouraging greater interclub participation between two of Kent's leading clubs This year it was decided to try and encourage greater interclub participation between two of Kent's leading sailing clubs by introducing a competition between Bough Beech and Chipstead as part of their annual Solo open meetings. Posted on 9 Jun
Chipstead SC ILCA Open
Blessed with wind which increased through the day Once again, amazingly for Chipstead, the Open was blessed with wind which increased through the day and had enough West in it to give a reasonable beat down the length of the Lake. Posted on 29 May
M&S Marblehead ranking event at Chipstead
Analyse the results for the top two sailors, and you realise just how well both sailed Thank you to all the participants for turning up at Chipstead on a beautifully sunny if slightly chilly Saturday morning. The quality of the sailors in the fleet was exceptionally high. Posted on 16 Mar
DF95 Invicta Trophy at Chipstead
Well done to participants for turning up on a damp and chilly morning At 8am the lake was rippled with a good breeze from the South to SouthWest which the Met Office was forecasting to slowly dissipate throughout the day. The only downside was the rain. Posted on 15 Mar
IOM Unicorn Open at Chipstead
M&S District Championship Round 1 Thank you to all the participants for turning up at Chipstead on slightly damp and chilly Sunday morning. At 8am the lake was rippled with a good breeze from WSW which the Met Office was forecasting to build throughout the morning. Posted on 6 Feb
M&S Marblehead GAMES 1 event at Chipstead
At least it was dry Thank you to all the participants for turning up at Chipstead SC on such a cold Saturday morning. At eight AM the lake was like a smooth mirror, no sign of the forecast North Easterly breeze, but the cold temperature was spot on. At least it was dry. Posted on 16 Jan
Graduate Southerns at Chipstead
A twenty strong fleet race on the Sunday and Monday of the Coronation weekend A twenty strong fleet of Graduates attended the two day event, shared with the Heron Nationals, held on the Sunday and Monday of the Coronation weekend, taking advantage of the extra bank holiday Monday, with 5 visitors joining 15 home boats. Posted on 10 May 2023
Graduate Southern Championship preview
Chipstead will welcome fleet on May bank holiday weekend Chipstead Sailing Club welcomes entries to the Graduate open meeting and Southern Championships, which is taking place over 1.5 days on Sunday 7 May 2023 and Bank Holiday Monday 8 May 2023. Posted on 14 Apr 2023
Maritimo 2023 S-Series FOOTERSavvy Navvy 2024