Chipstead SC Juniors Mid-summer Regatta 2025
by Rebecca Asker & Simon Gillow 3 Jul 16:39 NZST
28 June 2025
On 28th June 2025 Chipmates, the Junior Class at Chipstead SC, arrived to champagne sailing conditions for this year's mid-summer regatta. With lovely warm temperatures and wind averaging 9mph with gusts up to about 18mph, the sailing promised to be more interesting than last year's 3mph. A simple triangular course was set and by 10am, 57 sailors including a number from New Beacon School were on the water, ready for the first start.
The first pursuit race got under way with the club Oppies; Oliver Sc pulled out a good lead and led for the first lap, he was later caught by Adam in his Optimist, keen to get as far ahead as possible before the faster boats started. Harry D and Tom H in their Toppers led the charging Topper fleet but were themselves chased by the Feva of Aidan and Emily. The Lasers were now off too, using the gusts to work their way round the packs of slower boats while enjoying some close racing between themselves. When the gong rang after 45 minutes, Adam had managed to hold them all off, although the chasing Lasers of Harry T, Jim and Dan managed to pass the Toppers in the final minutes. Mim in a Laser 4.7 skillfully overtook Evie to claim first girl.
The wind had slightly increased for the second pursuit race, this time it was Moisés who took the early lead. Brothers Joshua G and Adam were having a close tussle in their Optimists with Joshua pleased to be leading his older brother for the first lap. Meanwhile, Harry D - enjoying the bells and whistles of his RYA Dinghy Show prize of a full Topper Worlds Harken race kit - had broken free from the rest of the Topper fleet and was closing the gap to the Optimists, but the real boats to watch were the Lasers. Dan may have been the last boat to start in his full rig but he scythed through the fleet, stealing the lead from Adam with only 30 seconds to go. Jim in his Laser Radial just ran out of time to catch Adam so finished in 3rd with the Harrys D and T coming 4th and 5th respectively, Mim finished 6th, securing first girl overall. A notable mention goes to our rookie Heron pair, William Sc and Henry. Having never sailed a Heron before (or in Henry's case, having never sailed before!) no one would have blamed the friends for retiring when they suffered a rudder failure. After a quick repair from the makeshift bosuns on pontoon 4, the boys were back in the game and finished the race.
The moody skies had now lifted and the briefing for the 'Regatta Scatter' took place in hot sunshine. The scatter race was a new concept we hadn't tried before so the organisers were crossing their fingers that it wouldn't result in complete carnage or that if it did, it would at least be fun! Maps showing the points value of each mark on the lake were taped to boats as sailors took the opportunity to fuel and cool themselves with ice lollies. Boats were started using pursuit race timings, heading for mark C followed by a check-in with the race officers before being free to visit whichever marks they fancied, checking in with the committee boat after each one. Only the rookies were allowed to visit the same mark twice in a row, the more experienced sailors being required to go elsewhere before they could return to C.
A range of strategies were deployed, some more strategic than others. Whilst some sailors took the opportunity to sail to marks they don't usually get to use on a Saturday morning, the Feva of Sophie and Mia decided to use their time to develop their capsize technique. Those who identified mark C (4 points) as a beam reach each way and realised mark J had a relatively high value (7 points) used their headstart over the Lasers to gain a good number of points by quickly sailing between the marks that were within easy reach of the committee boat. Whilst this method allowed them to dodge the flaky winds of the narrows, the mathematicians of the Junior Class adopted a different strategy, visiting far fewer marks but ensuring they were the highest value ones. Mim sailing her Laser 4.7 was the only competitor to reach both F and G, the highest value marks, which top and tailed by C and D gave her a final score of 36, just behind Harry D (38 points, 6 marks) and Adam (40 points, 8 marks). A few minutes more and the positions at the top may have looked quite different!
The scatter race was a huge success, enjoyed by everyone although perhaps less so by the race officers on the committee boat who spent 45 minutes dodging concussion as boats tried to get a close rounding as they gybed round the committee boat! As the Juniors exited the lake to make way for the club's usual Saturday afternoon race series, caterers Feed Easy provided a welcome BBQ for 150+ sailors and supporters. Later in the afternoon the Juniors were joined by Commodore Keith Turtle who presented a fabulous range of well-received prizes provided by event sponsors c-monsta, Rooster and Waterhaul.
Prizewinners:
Pursuit race:
1st overall/1st boy - Adam
1st girl - Mim
2nd boy - Dan
2nd girl - Izzy
3rd boy - Jim
3rd girl - Evie
1st regatta fleet overall/1st regatta boy - Joshua G
1st regatta fleet girl - Amy
1st regatta fleet under 11 - Cameron
1st rookie fleet - Noah
Scatter race:
1st overall/1st boy - Adam
1st girl - Mim
1st Optimist - Joshua G
1st Club Oppie - Moisés
1st Topper - Harry D
1st Club Topper - Izzy
1st Tera - Joshua S
1st double-hander - Aidan & Emily (Feva)
1st rookie - William Sc & Henry (Club Heron)