Spring Junior Championships 2026
Published 08:33 on 2 Jun 2026
In bright sunshine with blue skies and a light easterly breeze, Day 1 of the Spring Junior Championship got underway.
We had a 27-boat fleet (from Oppies to a D-Zero Black) for three back-to-back races, with Escort on the main race area, and the additional challenges of water depth on parts of the course, and weed - there was alot of weed!
For the Open fleet, race 1 started cleanly, but a cautious start by Rollo in the D-Zero left him trailing Ben in the Laser Radial, with Ruthie and Ella swapping places along the way.
In the Feva fleet, Henry and Adam had speed over the Eve and Olivia, pulling out to lead by a minute at the line.
In the Tera fleet it was Samual first over the line, closely followed by Felix then Jack.
With a great Oppi fleet of 12, Zoe brought the fleet home, hotly pursued by Daisy then Zachery.
For race 2 the wind lifted just a little and once in clear air, it allowed Rollo in the D-Zero to start to stretch away, but we need to wait for the results to know if it was enough!
In the Feva fleet, race 2 was a repeat of race 1, with Henry and Adam again stretching out a lead over Eve and Olivia, for a second win unchallenged.
Whilst in the Tera and Oppi fleets, being too eager to get away (with half the fleet over) caused a general recall; whist some were happy, others cried 'why'!
In the restart Jack found his mojo and was back leading the fleet, ahead of the Tera Pros, with Felix a little way back.
For Oppi race 2 it was Henry who had the legs on Daisy just 24 seconds behind, with Tobias just 7 seconds away.
We were looking to lengthen race 3, but unfortunately both time and tide were against us.
Rollo was first across the line in clear air, closely pursued by Ben, with Ruthie and Ella having a private tussle around the course.
In the Feva fleet, the boys continued to dominate with another win, stretching out a larger lead over the ladies.
Samuel was back leading the Tera fleet on the water, with Felix pulling through to 2nd and Jack a way back.
Following Samuel's example, Zoe was back in front in the Oppi with a comfortable 32 second lead ahead of Zachary, with Henry a little further back.
The wind stayed pretty constant throughout the session in speed and direction, allowing us to squeeze in the racing before we had to escape the falling water levels.
Day 2 started with a promise of a breeze, but sadly fell away during race 4.
The breeze allowed Rollo in his D-Zero to stretch his legs a little, pulling out to lead from beginning to end, but only just a minute ahead of the chasing ILCA pack lead by Ben. Max, signing up in his Aero 7, sadly had an issue with the boat and failed to make the start and returned ashore unable to resolve the issue.
In the Feva fleet the ladies seemed to be finding a little more speed and closed in on the boys, but still not enough to make a pass.
Samual led the Teras from start to finish, but only just ahead of Felix and Scarlett who had a tussle all race.
In the Oppi, Zoey stretched out a comfortable lead over Henry, with Anya hot on his heals.
In race 5 the Open fleet managed to get away with a beat to the first mark, whilst the Tera and Oppi fleets had a big wind shift just as they started making for a drag race to the first mark. With both fleets away, the decision made to just take the flying lap. Ben took the Open fleet with Rollo just 13 seconds behind on the water, followed by Harry with a reduced sail plan having forgot his full rig lower mast section.
It was ladies time to shine in the Feva fleet with Eve and Olivia pulling out a minute to finish ahead of the boys.
Felix led the Tera fleet, over Jack, with Scarlett just 3 seconds behind. Anya brought home the Oppi fleet by just 7 seconds over Zoey, then Daisy.
After a brief interlude whilst the RIB team relaid the course due to the wind shift, race 6 got underway.
Rollo got away in the D-Zero and led for the first 3 laps, only to get in a tangle with weed, allowing Ben to pull through for line honours, Rollo coming over 2nd and Ruthie 3rd. With 3 different handicap boats there will be some rearranging of positions to come!
Eve and Olivia were on a roll with another 1 minute lead over the boys.
In his Tera Pro, Samuel led for lap 1, replaced by Felix for lap 2, replaced by Scarlett to cross the finish first.
For the Oppi fleet it was the ladies 1, 2 & 3 with Anya, Zoey and Daisy.
Day 3's forecast was a north-westerly at 6-13 knots, and during the morning there were teasing flashes of breeze, only for it to drop off and shift some 30 degrees before coming back to its mean direction.
The first away, Open and Feva fleets, fell into an orderly procession at the front and stayed in line throughout the race, with Rollo leading in the D-Zero, and Harry 'no battens and flappy leach', who switched up to the full rig today, just managed to keep ahead of Ben in the Radial.
The Feva fleet closed up, and at the last mark there was nothing between the boy and girl crews, with one mother of each crew aboard Escort cheering on their respective boat, it came down to a photo finish, a second in it, with Henry and Adam crossing ahead of Eve and Olivia, but only by a hair's breadth.
In the Tera Pros Scarlett and Samuel had a close fought battle throughout the race, only for two Sports to come through on handicap to finish ahead.
At the front of the Oppi fleet, Zoey and Henry battled throughout the race, Zoey taking a 7 second win at the line.
Race 8 came with a promising breeze to start. For the Open and Feva fleets, the order was set by the first mark, and never changed thereafter.
For the Tera and Oppi fleet start there were gains to be had on a port flier, whilst the main group of the fleet became very slow as they bunched up giving off disturbed air. Samuel and Scarlett continued the battle to lead the Tera fleet, but with the foresight (or pure luck) on a port hand flier, came Henry and Zachary, who then lead for almost a lap in their Oppis before being overhauled by the Teras, having extracted themselves from the melee, but secured their first & second for their Oppi race.
As were were counting off the final finishers from race 8 and prepping for race 9, the wind fell away, so sadly, with falling water levels, the final race was abandoned.
Three days of racing, 8 races in all, but not without a few curve-balls from loosing boat keys, engine overheats due to weed and other fueling issues, all of which were overcome by our patrol boat crews with Bosun Nigel's assistance.
A special shout out to Caroline for stepping up to Race Officer (pontoon) for the first time, and to our Bosun Nigel, for keeping our kit together to keep us on the water.
A BIG THANK YOU to all who volunteered for duties, on the water and ashore - this event could not be run without your support, which is very much appreciated.
Brian & the race team