Ballyholme Yacht Club's Junior Icebreaker series came to a conclusion with prize giving on Saturday, 17th December, for ILCA, 29er, Feva, Topper 5.3, Topper 4.2 and Optimist classes.
The series is open to all cadets and particularly aims to support those new to racing. A mainly parent-led team of volunteers, including RYA Race Coaches, was available from the start of October until the middle of December to provide racing accompanied by on-the-water coaching.
Several days were lost due to the windy autumn weather and two extra days were added in December to compensate. There was a fantastic turnout, with close to fifty boats over the series. The first-ever Junior Icebreaker was almost all Toppers, and BYC have now seen the fleets expand to include double-handers like the Feva and 29er as well as the single-handed Optimist, ILCA 4 and ILCA 6.
Ballyholme Yacht Club's Junior Icebreaker series prizegiving Photo: Adele Mcafee
The biggest fleet was the Topper 5.3 rig, with 20 boats out across the series. The winner who consistently finished in the top few over all the races was Hannah Archer. Jack Ives was a close second, and in third was Zoe Westhurst, who did enough to get on the podium even though she had some weekends away on RYANI Squad training.
As with the Topper 5.3 fleet, the Topper 4.2 fleet had several new sailors taking part, but Polly Robinson continued her form from last year and took the top place on the podium. Second place went to Alex Eadie, with her brother James rounding off the podium in third.
The Optimist fleet also had another past winner take the first spot, with Matthew Holden winning convincingly from Oliver Stephens and Job Wong competing in their first-ever racing event.
The final single-handed class was the ILCA (Laser), won by Hunter Reddy, with Annika Hunter in second and Hannah Dadley in third.
The biggest of the double-handers fleets was the Fevas, with seven boats competing. This class has increased from the two we had last year. The “old hands“ of Emily and Annabel Ridout won with a long string of first places; second place was Jessica
Dadley and Sally Nixon chose the Feva above the Topper this year, and the final podium place went to Peter and Mat Ridout.
Finally, the 29er class was won by Joseph Robinson and Henry Nelson, with Hannah Dadley and Toby Hughes in second. The club has gone for 15 years with no 29ers, and with Hunter Reddy actively looking we hope to have three in the fleet for next spring.
