ABP Cadet class World Championship 2024 in Plymouth - Day 5
by Angie Meyer 8 Aug 18:32 UTC
4-9 August 2024
After yesterday's lay day, the penultimate day of the ABP Cadet World Championships began with morning briefing and a rousing chorus of 'Happy Birthday' sung by a room packed to the rafters.
Over 200 Cadet youth plus coaches and parents sang with gusto for four Birthday Cadets, all celebrating their special day at a World event no less. My corner of the room even managed a bit of three part harmony; who knew the class was so musical?!
Spot prizes followed, and today it was the German coach Haiko Menega who received the Minnerva spot prize for his skilled and valiant rescue of a Cadet dinghy turtled under extremely challenging conditions the previous day beyond the Plymouth breakwater.
The theme of the mornings briefing was 'Why I love Cadet sailing', and our guest of honour Sail GP legend (and ex-Cadet sailor) Nick Hutton, who spoke to the youth about his experience's growing up sailing Cadets in Exmouth and his rewarding career path into SailGP. His message to the packed room of aspiring youth was clear: the Cadet class gives all sailors a fantastic foundation, being a dinghy that teaches young sailors invaluable lessons in sailing and gives you friends for life.
His parting words: "Make the most of every moment!"
After such an aspirational quote it was perhaps a little disappointing to see the AP flag hoisted shortly thereafter as wave upon wave of squall conditions began to batter the Plymouth coast line. Visibility was reduced considerably and the AP flag was raised.
In many respects, the rest of the morning could have been wasted.
But instead of feeling disheartened the Cadet Fleet set about constructively entertaining themselves; making new friends; playing cards; boat bimbling; socialising and generally making the most of the window of opportunity they had.
In the few hours delay, where we sat ashore waiting, I was presented with a unique opportunity to chat to a few different Cadet sailors from different countries and find out abit more about them and perhaps see if across different age groups, countries and indeed language, we could find a universal commonality within the class.
For some of the Cadet sailors I chatted to, this was their first World Championship event. For some it was their first Cadet event ever! What a trial by fire. I chatted to crews and helms, across all ages and stages of their journey within the Cadet class, and I found within their answers an affirmation that the Cadet class is indeed a universal family of sailors, who share the same aspirations and the same love for rather small three-sailed dinghy that has continued to stand the test of time.
The theme of the day, 'Why I love Cadet Sailing', was summarised perfectly by not only the current fleet of Cadets themselves (read in full below), but also by Frensham Cadet Squadron Leader Dom Stanislaus who closed the briefing. In his own words he summed it up as: "Cadet sailing is about friends life, and sailing for life."
Josh Garner (Australia)
"This is my first world championship although I sailed in the promotional fleet last year in Belgium, Nieuwpoort. My best memory of this event was coming in kites up, reaching, smoking past boats. It's good sailing in a Cadet because of the social atmosphere and everybody is having a great time connecting through competitive sailing. My boat name is Ringo because of a previous haircut and one of the parents Jason Farnell called me Ringo Starr."
Cato van Fulpen (Netherlands)
"This is my first time sailing in a world event. I really like it! My best memory of this event so far is that I almost fell out of the boat while sailing back to the harbour. It was quite funny. It is very adventurous and you learn a lot about sailing. I really enjoy sailing with Barend (my helm). I also like to fly over the water when there is a lot of wind and waves. My boat name is Blueblicious."
Samantha Nee (GBR)
"My first worlds was Belgium. I am a helm. My favourite memory from this event is being top Brit in the nationals and winning the Nationals trophy. I love sailing Cadets because it teaches you a lot about leading and you make a lot of friends some even from different countries. My boat name is She Who Dares."
Kommaravelly Deekshitha (India)
"This is my first world championship in Cadets and I am a helm. My favourite memory of this event is when I rounded the windward mark first, but on the run I lost a few places. I finished fifth in Promo fleet this is the best memory of this event. The Cadet is a different boat I did not sail before recently. I sailed in an Optimist but the Cadet, it is a wonderful experience for me sail this boat for the first time, this is my favourite boat."
Illia Donchenko (Ukraine)
"This is my second World Championship and my first as a helm. My favourite memory is in the first race l finished second. I like sailing in a Cadet. It gives a good emotions. My boat name is Obolon Goose."
Valentin Asaf Carloni Hirsch (Argentina)
"This is my second World Championship and I am a crew. I love the world championship! It's fun. I sailed with Tomas Fernandez Jardon the last year and we won the last world championship."
Filip Dudzinski (Poland)
"This is my first World Championship and I am a helm. My favourite memory is qualifying to the gold fleet in the nationals and having a good start in one of the races in worlds. I enjoy sailing in a Cadet because it's something that I can constantly improve on and solve problems. My boat doesn't have a name but it has a number POL9127."
Anna Thomas (GBR)
"This is my first World Championship and I am a helm. My best memory of the event was having dolphins on the start line in race 7. I enjoy sailing Cadets because it teaches resilience and there's a good balance between the competition and social events. My boat is called Blue Rose (one of the oldest in the fleet!)"
Samantha Archer (Australia)
"This is my first world event and I am a crew. My favourite thing about sailing Cadets is the reaches! And I like sailing with my mate Olive."
Daisy Cox (GBR)
"This is my first World Championship and I am a crew. My best memory of this Cadet event is the international evening because I got to hang out with my friends and make some new ones from other countries. Also the Dolphin pod swimming on the start line in Race 5 were pretty cool! I like sailing in a Cadet because I like doing the competitive events and meeting new people. The boat I am crewing in is called Sizzerin Hot."
Lina Zijlmans (Netherlands)
"This is my second time sailing a world event, I've been to Nieuwpoort last year. I am a crew. My best memory of this event is that we were first around the top mark on the second racing day.I love working together with Bran (my helm) when sailing races. I really like going fast with the spinnaker when there is a lot of wind. In Plymouth I really love the waves, especially outside the breakwater! My boat name is Speedy."
Olive Hooper (Australia)
"This is my first World event and I am a helm. I love sailing on the reaches in heavy wind!! I really like sailing with someone else, especially my crew."
Yehor Veretelnyk (Ukraine)
"This is my first World Championship and my first as a helm. My favourite memory is we finished third in a race. I like sailing Cadets because it's cool and it gives good memories."
Emiel Van Daele (Belgium)
"This is my second World event and I am a helm. I like the socials and the Cadet is fun to sail. My boat name is Outrage 8518."
Emily Krailing (GBR)
"This is my second World event but first one helming. My favourite memory of this event is the top reach and the big waves. I like Cadets because I like racing with my friends. My boat name is True Colours."
Terencjusz Kosinski (Poland)
"This is my first World event and I am a crew. My favourite memory from this event is sailing in the big waves. I like sailing in Cadets because it is two people and I enjoy sailing with my helm. My boat is POL9127."
Peerkatla Ganesh (India)
"This my first world championship event in a Cadet and I am a helm. In this world championship regatta in Promo fleet I finished third. That is my best memory for me. Cadets is the wonderful boat, we can enjoy sailing it lot. I sailed the Cadet for the first time here and it's so cool to helm."
Jenna Berry (GBR)
"This is my first World Championship and I am a helm. My favourite memory of this event is surfing the waves on the third day. I like sailing in Cadets because I enjoy all of the opportunities and life experiences that it brings. My boat is called Sizzerin Hot."
Looking ahead
Looking ahead, I suspect we all hope that our final day of racing tomorrow will indeed be more Sizzerin Hot that cold and rainy, as sadly but perhaps not surprisingly racing was cancelled for today due to poor visibility on the sea.
I know our Cadets eagerly await the final day of racing of the Cadet World Championships 2024 in Plymouth tomorrow!
The Cadet Class are extremely grateful to the support of all our sponsors, in particular Associated British Ports, Minerva Virtual Academy, Stubborn Mule, Pure Storage, NFU Mutual, Royal Hospital School, GOAT Marine, West System, Optimum Time, Exe Sails, The Cornwall Bakery, Stitchprint, Golden Duck, Indigo Concept, Clamcleat and Llandow Caravan Park. The event is being run by Plymouth Youth Sailing, at the Mount Batten Centre for Watersports.
You can follow the event live on the Sailracer Tracker via www.cadetworlds.co.uk/tracker and on our social media channels follow @GBRCadet