Junior Racing
Published 23:29 on 24 Oct 2023
This is the junior (U16) and youth (U19) race training section of Exe Sailing Club. Run by volunteers, we organise training sessions on Thursday evenings throughout the summer term and one weekend day a month through the autumn and winter. The goal is to get our juniors participating in club racing and then progress to open meetings, national and international events depending on their goals and aspirations.
RS Fevas, UKLA Lasers, ITCA Toppers, RS Teras & Nacra 15’s are the main classes of boats that our juniors compete in at the moment. Find out more about the classes by clicking on the links below:
For more details about the specific junior training sessions and entry information, head over to the Junior Race Training page.
All the official documents can be found on the Juniors Official Notice Board .
A range of single and double handed club boats are available for hire for our juniors if you don’t own your own. The Toppers and RS Teras are free, all other boats are £15 per hire. ALL boat types can be hired for free for racing. Head over the boat hire page for further information and link to book a boat.
Recent News
Tera/Topper Open Event | 12th October 2024 | Starcross Yacht Club
On Saturday 12th October, 6 of our junior sailors took part in the Tera and Topper open event at Starcross Yacht Club. Although a slightly delayed start due to lack of wind meant there was time for several rounds of tug of war. The racing soon got underway and the juniors all had a great time.
For the RS Tera sport fleet, we had 5 sailors representing the club. Stefan Anderson and Barney Rhodes raced each other hard at the front and finished with a very close 2nd and 3rd respectively and Jack Rowsell, Freddie Santer and Neva Pearson finished 8th, 9th and 10th. Oliver Furby was in the Topper 5.3 fleet and came 6th overall.
A special mention to Jack Rowsell and Neva Pearson for taking part in their first open event and finishing all 3 races, well done and great results all round.
Full results can be found here
South & Southwest Regional Junior Championship | 22nd-23rd June 2024 | WPNSA
Six of our junior sailors attended the South & Southwest Regional Junior championship at Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy with over 200 sailors attending. The championship was pulled together at short notice by the Class Associations and included RS Feva, RS Tera, Topper, Optimist and ILCA fleets as well as a coached regatta with RS Tera, Topper and Optimist Fleets.
Saturday was a fantastic day of sailing with increasing wind strength over the day and some great racing. Sunday started sunny but windless and the sailors had to wait until noon to be released by the race officer for some more very good and close racing.
Oliver Furby and Rory Dixon sailed in the coached Topper 5.3 regatta and both recorded a second place in one of the 9 races over the weekend.
In the championship fleet were Peter and Ted Berry in the RS Feva fleet and Barney Rhodes & Stefan Anderson in the RS Tera Sport fleet. With over 140 boats and seven fleets on the same race course our sailors had to handle the changing wind conditions as well as the five different starts for each of the four races on Saturday and three on Sunday. This was Peters & Teds first regatta and they did an excellent job and were awarded the best newcomers in the RS Feva fleet.
Barney and Stefan were part of the 44 strong RS Tera Sport fleet which was dominated by the sailors from the south region. Barney came second in the Southwest Championship and 20th overall, with Stefan coming third in the Southwest Championship and 27th overall.
All our sailors had a great time on and off the water and encouraged each other to be their best.
Full results can be viewed here
Tera & Topper Open | 7 October 2023 | Starcross Yacht Club
On Saturday 7th of October six of our junior sailors took part in the Topper and Tera Open Meeting 2023 at Starcross Yacht Club. Following a long wait for the fog to lift over the Exe, during which the club organised a Tera against Topper tug of war, sailing conditions were perfect. Both fleets had excellent representation from several clubs in the Southwest from Bristol to Fowey. Three races were held in each fleet for the 33 sailors taking part.
In the Topper 5.3 fleet Leo Griffiths came second with his brother Ethan 10th, Rory Dixon 15th and Oliver Furby 16th. In the Tera Sport fleet racing for the top three places was very tight with Barney Rhodes coming 2nd and Stefan Anderson 3rd at the end of some very competitive sailing. It was a perfect way to finish the 2023 season. Some of the Exe juniors are taking part in the SWYSA winter race coaching sessions over the coming months to get race ready for 2024.
Full results can be viewed here .
South West Regional Junior Championships | 17 – 18 June 2023 | Royal Torbay Yacht Club
Ten of our Junior racers travelled to Torquay to compete in the Regional Junior Championships alongside 110 other SW regional sailors. Winds were light and shifting resulting in some races being restarted and the course adjusted. This was unsettling for our sailors who struggled to gain a good start in the Sunday races.
A strong first race for Harry Simcock and Rory Whilding in the Feva championship fleet kept them slightly ahead of the other Exe boats coming 8th. They were followed by Charlotte Cox & Megan Gubb coming 9th and the just recently teamed boat of Rosalila Gibbons & Felix Hartley at 10th place in the Under 17 Feva Championship fleet.
Our 3 youngest sailors in the competition took part in the coached regatta fleet.The Tera coached regatta fleet saw our first medal with a 1st place for Barney Rhodes who was joined in the fleet by Stefan Anderson. Our second medal came in the Topper coached regatta with a silver for Oliver Furby.
The weekend was great fun with lots of smiles and excellent team work. A special thanks to Charlotte Cox for her generous tips and advice in getting this young team ready for their first championship. All the sailors gained valuable experience for future competitions.
It was noted by the organisers that Exe Sailing Club had a big increase in sailors participating this year and was the third most represented club at the event.
Full results can be found here .
Rooster RS Feva National Championships | 27- 30 May 2023 | Plas Heli, Welsh National Sailing Academy
The RS Feva Nationals saw 93 boats competing over four days of racing in Pwllheli. Helm Eliza Pritchard & crew Rosalila Gibbons from Exe SC headed up to join in their first National Championship event. They were blessed with glorious Welsh sunshine, great conditions and stunning views of the sailing and Snowdonia behind. The fleet was divided into 4 flights with 3 races per day which meant about 5 hours every day on the water. There were two days of qualifying races, followed by two days of silver & gold fleet racing for the trophies.
Day 1 had light winds with our two Exe SC junior sailors finding their stride. Day 2 got really gusty with many capsizes and lots of broken kit on many of the boats. By Day 3 they found their best form. Some good heavy wind tactics resulted in their best finish of 17th in their fleet. The wind varied and caused some challenges however.
Day 4 was the final day of racing with plenty of wind but some challenging shifts. They got a 19th finish in the silver fleet on their last day. After several postponements, racing was abandoned.
They finished up in 26th position in the silver fleet, which was a great result for this new combination. Congratulations girls!
Full results can be found here .
RYA Youth National Championships | 10 – 14 April 2023 | WPNSA
Exe SC’s Sophie Raven is RYA Youth National Champion
The 2023 RYA Youth National Championships saw six Exe SC sailors competing in the Nacra 15 class at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy alongside the other youth classes.
Only two days of racing were possible due to strong winds on the other three days. The RYA put on talks from the Youth Racing Managers and British Sailing Team sailors to keep sailors inspired when there was no racing.
Three races were held on the Tuesday with an early start to try to get races in ahead of expected strong winds in the afternoon. After a mistake in the first race saw Sophie Raven (Exe) and Sam Cox (Restronguet) fall back from first at the windward mark to second last, they managed to recover for a 6th, then picking up a 1st and 2nd to finish the day third overall.
Tom Jones (Retronguet) and Amelie Andrew (Exe) picked up a 13th and 5th but struggled in the strong wind on the last race and did not finish. Finn Caddy (Bristol Corinthian) and Morgan Turner (Exe/Tamworth) picked up 9th and 10th and a DNF.
Marcus King (Weston) and Charlotte Cox (Exe) the lightest sailors and only U17 team sailed well for 10th and 13th but could not complete the last race. Anna Cox (Exe) and Angus Bailey (Exe) sailed solidly for 15th and 12th but also failed to finish the third race.
A very windy upwind sail back to shore was testing for the sailors, and they were commended by the Principal Race Officer for the way they all helped each other to recover the boats and get the sails down in what was a very strong wind by that time.
Once Storm Noa had passed on Wednesday, Thursday brought a force 4 and sunshine although very chilly. Sam and Sophie traded first and second places with the Belgian crew of Mateo LeClerc and Mathieu Pinsaart, ending the regatta on equal points but winning overall on count back. Tom and Amelie showed their potential with two 6th places but not finishing the last race after a big pitch pole. Finn and Morgan continued to improve with their best result of 8th in the last race. Marcus and Charlotte, and Anna and Angus, continued their soled performances, but struggled in the last race as the wind and swell built.
Apart from Sophie, the other Exe SC sailors have only been sailing the Nacra for six months or so. Most of their sailing has been in more sheltered estuary waters and with the racing being in Weymouth Bay, they also had to cope with some bigger waves as the wind backed SW and built on both days, and they did a great job gaining valuable race experience. This was also the first event of the Nacra 15 European Super Series, so it was lovely to have five overseas boats sailing. The next event is at YC Carnac in France from 29/04-01/05.
Full results: https://youthnationals.rya.org.uk/en/default/races/race-resultsall
Last updated 11:21 on 28 October 2024