ILCA UK Youth Series Open, sponsored by Harken, at Parkstone Yacht Club

Poole Harbour was at its best for the third round of the ILCA UK Youth Series hosted by Parkstone Yacht Club and sponsored by Harken.

Saturday began with a breezy day's training for 33 sailors who opted to arrive one day early. 15-25+ knots provided ideal training conditions for 12 members of the British Youth Sailing Team who took to the more challenging, choppy conditions of Poole Bay, while 21 sailors trained in the harbour as part of open training organised by the host club. Conditions were definitely at the top end but everyone came ashore with smiles from ear to ear and stories to tell of epic wipe-outs and near misses.

ILCA UK Youth Series Open, sponsored by Harken, at Parkstone Yacht Club - photo © James Harle

Sunday arrived, and with it a perfect forecast promising a building breeze that might reach gusts of 23 knots by the afternoon. Thus the decision was made to move racing from the bay to the harbour due to potential complications posed by trying to transit the fleet past the chain ferry in strong winds during the return to harbour.

The fleet of 45 launched promptly after the 10 o'clock briefing, but were dismayed to arrive at a calm race area with the wind barely reaching 5 knots. A short wait ensued before conditions were raceable and a course was laid, and the first race was started in a tricky and shifty westerly breeze. During race one the wind began to move left and fill in as forecast, building to a solid south westerly of 12-15 knots by the start of race 2, with gusts of 20 knots recorded on the committee boat as the afternoon progressed. These conditions, combined with the wall to wall sunshine, set the stage for a further three perfect races as the wind built and with it a choppy sea state.

ILCA UK Youth Series Open, sponsored by Harken, at Parkstone Yacht Club - photo © James Harle

In the 6s the racing was tightly contested. In race 1 Tom Hakes and Leo Yates enjoyed a two boat battle with Tom coming out on top. In race 2 the early favourites Tom and Leo were too eager at the start and caught UFD, with Poppy Luxton unknowingly leading the race and building an impressive lead until she was caught on the final reach by race winner Tom Rawlings and second place Archie Munro-Price. Race 3 was then won by Archie which put him into a three boat contest with Tom and Leo going into the final race. Leo won race 4 but it wasn't enough, with Archie just pipping Tom to the final leeward mark to come home in second to earn the event win, with Leo and Tom both one point behind and separated from each other on countback. Poppy took victory in the females, with Megan Thompson finishing a close second by just three more points, and Flo Tovey rounding out the top three.

ILCA UK Youth Series Open, sponsored by Harken, at Parkstone Yacht Club - photo © James Harle

In the 4s the racing was no less competitive and the battle also came down to the final race. In race 1 Harry Dence took the win with Thomas Knight and Felix Harle in hot pursuit. As the wind increased the conditions began to suit Thomas Saunders who won the next two successive races, with Felix Harle and Zachary Chappel claiming the runners up spots in races 2 and 3 respectively. While Thomas seemingly had one hand on the trophy at this point, Zac and Harry had other ideas and in race 4 came home with a one-two to take it to the wire. However, Thomas's third place in the final race was enough to give him victory, with the top three separated by only two points in the end. In the females, Merry Lewis won convincingly by six points to Pippa Knights, who was followed by Ruby Coster in the bronze medal position. Congratulations goes to the large number of transition sailors in the 4 fleet for whom it was their first ILCA regatta - a big achievement in the strong breeze of the day.

ILCA UK Youth Series Open, sponsored by Harken, at Parkstone Yacht Club - photo © James Harle

The day was rounded off with the prize-giving, where mugs were awarded to the prize winners, and Harken, the ILCA UK Youth Series sponsor, provided a gift card for the overall champion in each fleet. Harken also donated t-shirts and bobble hats that were awarded in an 'in-it-to-win-it' prize draw, where names were drawn at random to earn prizes, and in which the lucky Henry Moss won the big prize of an ILCA 4 mast supplied by Ovington.

ILCA UK Youth Series Open, sponsored by Harken, at Parkstone Yacht Club - photo © James Harle

Finally, a thank you to all the volunteers who made the event happen, in particular to Roger Hakes for organising the day and running spotless racing for us as PRO, and Elaine Hakes for supplying us with donuts and milkshakes as we returned to shore. Another huge thanks goes to James Harle for taking some amazing photos for the competitors, including rigging the windward mark with an Insta 360 and getting his drone in the air to take some epic shots.

Overall Results: