Three
teams were chosen to represent Kent at the National Schools Team Racing held at
Northampton. The weather forecast was for strong winds and lashings of rain and
true to form this happened. The competition consisted of 28 teams racing each
other over two days.
Day
1 started with the group stages with the Kent heavy weight team of Jonathan
Waite, Douglas Horner and Richard Turnhill heading off first and winning their
race. Next went the girls; Katie Restall, Clare Stubbs and Lucy Heather who also
won in a convincing fashion. Kent A team of Chris Catt, Jonathan White and
Robert Waite had to wait until the 15th race to show that they too
could win their race. For all 3 teams this was the start of things to come. With
a tactical race from Kent B, it put them in the silver fleet with teams A and C
in the gold fleet.
Saturday
night saw the teams trying to get their weights up to compete with team C by
devouring the Beefeater's supply of spare ribs.
Sunday
arrived with what looked like a better day. However, this was not to be so. Wind
increased and showers followed to give another challenging day on the water.
Teams A and B were in strong positions. However team C looked to be out of the
competition. With the second round coming to a close, last years runners up and
Kent's biggest rival were knocked out by an unexpected team.
Having
settled into the comforts of their dry clothes and the clubhouse team C were
back in the running. Team B won their semi-final race but were just pipped at
the post by Worcestershire A in the final after battling hard against the
elements.
Team
A had their semi-final first. After a large disagreement with the Race Officer
we were made to undo our reefed sails and use full rigs. This did not seem to
affect their performance as Kent A won both their races. Kent B had 5 races due
to breakages caused by Jon Waite. They were the eventual victors and Kent A and
C were to face each other in the final. After the 3 races Kent A were the
champions.
So
an excellent performance by all of the 9 members of the Kent Team. This could
not have been achieved without the help and encouragement of Frank and Jenny
Catt and Steve Restall.
Robert
Waite