Junior Racing
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 | 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 LeClercq 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
Exe SC Youth Nacra 15 Takeover
The autumn has been busy for Exe SC sailors in the Nacra 15 fleet. Sophie Raven has been in the class for two years and formed a new partnership with Sam Cox of Restronguet SC in August, as both their previous partners had become too old to qualify for the National Youth Performance squad (Sam’s helm Jasmine Williams has moved on to the Nacra 17 with brother Theo in the British Sailing Squad). After a handful of training sessions together their first test was Weston Cat Open on 10-11 September. There was only one other Nacra 15 in the handicap fleet, but it was a good sign for Sam and Sophie to take the win from the current Youth National Champions with three race wins to the more experienced team’s two.
On to the next GP event and National Champs at Brightlingsea on 1-2 October and enter Exe SC’s Amelie Andrew, who only shortly before teamed up as a crew for Tom Jones of Restronguet, who has been sailing the 15 since the beginning of 2022. Day one brought fresh to strong winds with one boat deciding to sit it out on the beach. Tom and Amelie battled very well for two second places showing a strong start. In race 3 they suffered a broken mast following a freak upwind capsize and their regatta was over but with the sailors vowing to come back stronger. Sam and Sophie took five out of six race wins to become national champions.
Next was the final GP event and Inland Championships at Grafham on 22-23 October. Enter more Exe SC sailors! Angus Bailey and Anna Cox have joined the fleet sailing boat 184 and Charlotte Cox has teamed up with Marcus King of Warsash SC in 126. Although they had managed to pick up a new mast for the event, Tom and Amelie had to spend the first day preparing the boat after the capsize three weeks earlier. And with day one being very breezy, the new pairing of Marcus and Charlotte decided to sit out the racing. Sam and Sophie took the overall win with six race wins. Anna and Angus were 4th, Tom and Amelie 5th with Marcus and Charlotte 6th.
The Grafham GP was followed by a residential training camp with yet another Exe SC sailor joining the fleet. Morgan Turner is sailing with Finn Caddy from Bristol Corinthian YC. Of the eight active boats in the fleet now, there are six sailors from Exe SC, and with Izzy and Eloise Smith from Starcross YC, the Exe Estuary has an amazing presence.
The final event of the season took place this weekend: The European Super Series Closing event in Barcelona 4-6 November. Sam Cox and Sophie Raven in GBR074 were the only UK entry and they were keen to see how they matched up to some of the best in Europe. Amazingly, they came away with a second place, beaten only by the Swiss boat who came fourth at the World Championships in Lake Garda this August, and ahead of the Italian and Belgian teams who finished 12th and 14th at the Worlds. They sailed a consistent regatta in a mix of strong, gusty offshore winds, light and moderate sea breezes and picked up a race win on the final day.
RS200 National Championships | 21 – 25 August 2022 | Hayling Island SC
A record 182 boats competed in the RS200 National Championships this year, with Hayling Island SC hosting the event. Exe Sailing Club had 7 of its sailors competing in the event.
The five days of racing provided some varied weather conditions although all 10 races were completed with a welcome earlier finish on Day 5.
The spectacle of 182 boats starting on one gate start was impressive to see. The course was an incredibly long first beat with spacer, down to a leeward gate, then a shorter windward leg then back down to the finish.
There was some great close racing between the 3 junior crews. Plenty of experience was gained at managing a race course with so many other boats competing for the same wind and space.
The final placings had Joe Reid and Charlotte Cox finishing in 171st place with their best result of 133rd position.
Felix & Oscar finished right behind in 172nd position with a top placing of 153rd.
Anna & Angus finished in 179th position with a 166th position as their best placing during the week.
Ffion Morgan teamed up with a fellow University friend Ben Dearden and sailed to 165th position overall with a best placing of 165th.
Full race report and results can be found here
Topper/Tera Open Meeting | 11th May 2022 | Starcross YC
Two of our junior sailors, Joe Reid and Theo James, sailed up river to compete with in a fleet of 15 toppers and 9 teras on a sunny but breezy summer Saturday. They sailed 4 races after a picnic lunch at the club and took a break after 2 races for tea and cake.
It was a friendly event with a range of abilities from the competing girls and boys from local clubs and a well-managed day thanks to the Starcross team.
A gusty westerly saw Theo’s best result of 5th in Race 3 whilst Joe’s significant 13-year-old-physique gained him a good 2nd place in Race 3 when the wind peaked to a Force 5 or so. Joe managed 5th & Theo 9th overall with sailors from Portishead, Brixham, Paignton and Starcross taking the first few positions.
The boys enjoyed a hot chocolate on their tow home after a long afternoon on the water. Well done!
RS Feva National Championships | 28 – 31 May 2022 | WPNSA | Report by Anna Cox
Recently, three Exe SC junior race teams travelled to Portland for the RS Feva Nationals 2022. Representing the club were Amelie Hudson & Morgan Turner, Felix & Rosalila Gibbons, and Anna & Charlotte Cox. Read on to find out how they did and take a look at the video from day 3: https://youtu.be/JymIrpVqyDo
With a flat sea state, the wind conditions ranged from very light airs for the first three days with every wind direction possible, to 15-20knts on day four from the SW.
Throughout the four days, the fleet of 82 Fevas raced the IX2 inner trapezoid course which was a shorter course so that they could complete as many races as possible each day. This is because the event consisted of 12 races which needed to be completed for the series in the results.
Day one saw very light airs. The sailors launched at 11:30 and eventually managed to complete all three races which were scheduled. After the first race, the wind completely dropped off and the sailors sat floating about for 1.5 hours waiting for the wind to fill in. Under the lima flag, the sailors followed the committee boat across the harbour in search of wind, however there was still not enough to race in. The fleet sat under the postponement flag for over three hours in extremely sunny conditions; the sailors had to have the patience to remain floating about until the wind finally filled back in. Finally, the race committee were able to set the course and the sailors completed the last two races of the day. They were very tactical and all the Exe sailors did very well to compete in such conditions after such a long day.
Day two, and with the wind still very light, again racing consisted of many postponements. The fleet managed to complete 2 races before the wind completely dropped off. Many sailors were towed back to the harbour and the committee made the decision to abandon the last race of the day.
Day three was another long day, with the sailors competing in 4 races. To begin with, the wind was between 5 and 8 knots however, as the day progressed, the wind increased to 12-16 knots due to the sea breeze. Unfortunately, in the third race Felix and Rosalila had a collision which caused them to capsize and break their jib halyard meaning that they had to retire from the race. Back ashore they took the boat to protest and won the argument against the Feva which collided with them. After racing, 49erFX Olympian Saskia Tidey gave a talk to the fleet which was inspirational. She was really pleased to see the Exe boats, as her coach is Stevie Morrison.
Day four consisted of 3 races in a moderate breeze of 15 to 20 knots. Within the fleet there were many capsizes. However, the Exe sailors managed to sail well and keep control of their boats and gain some positions. All the sailors representing Exe Sailing Club had a great time and learnt a lot about racing in a big fleet
Results:
Charlotte and Anna were 1st Exe boat, 21st in silver fleet and 62nd overall.
Felix and Rosalila were 2nd Exe boat, 32nd in silver fleet and 73rd overall.
Amelie and Morgan were 3rd Exe boat, 38th in silver fleet and 79th overall.
Last updated 12:03 on 8 April 2024