Eric Twiname Championships 2022
Article by Harry West (aged 13)
The May Day Bank Holiday weekend saw the first Eric Twiname Championships take place since the pandemic; the event last being held in 2019. A large fleet of 60 ILCA 4s (split almost equally between boys and girls) had travelled from across the country to Rutland Sailing Club. Unfortunately, the forecast predicting light variable winds for the weekend was accurate and being able to pick the shifts was going to be key.
The Saturday launching was delayed until the middle of the afternoon as competitors had to wait until the breeze filled under sunny warm conditions. In the only race to take place on that day, I managed to pick the favoured side of the course to build a substantial lead but was pipped on the line by Max Steele, with Tom Thwaites third.
On Sunday there was a steady 10 knot breeze, enabling four races to be held. The top ten positions were all very close as the wind shifted across the course throughout the day, keeping us looking for dark patches on the water. Five races were scheduled for this day but with the sailors being on the water for nearly five hours the race team decided to call it a day.
Monday, unfortunately, saw the wind drop and racing was abandoned allowing us all to pack up and head home but not before we had tried out the ice-cream van that was onsite for the event, along with a few games of football! It’s always nice to hang out with friends plus make some new ones off the water.
Huge congratulations to Freddie Sunderland, an old Tera friend, who won the event with two firsts, with Henry Keegan coming in a close second and my fellow Royal Lymington sailor Jack Graham Troll taking 3rd place. I was very happy with my overall placing of 8th. Well done to Yiszhuo Liu who was 1st girl along with Amelie Hacker and Ellie Hattam who were 2nd and 3rd girl. Thank you to the race teams, the RYA, Rutland Sailing Club and the Eric Twiname Trust for putting on a fantastic event.