SAILING
The U17s defend their championship title at the end of another successful year for Sevenoaks .
The first major team racing event of the year was in early October : the RYA ET Team Racing Regatta at Oxford Sailing Club . Sevenoaks gave a strong performance with our best result of second place in the junior division .
Sevenoaks sailors continued to compete in multiple team racing regattas throughout the year : the RYA / BUSA Women ’ s Team Racing nationals , RYA UKTRA ( United Kingdom Team Racing Association ) Senior National Championship , BSDRA ( British Schools Dinghy Racing Association ) Thames Valley , KSSA ( Kent ) Topper Team Racing regatta , BSDRA spring trophy , BSDRA Eastern , BSDRA Southern Championship and BSDRA Hoad Shield .
A first for this year was the RYA Schools Match Racing Championship at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in November , where two teams represented Sevenoaks .
Sevenoaks sailors went back to the 2012 Olympic venue of WPNSA for the RS Feva national championships in the Summer term . They rose to the challenging sailing conditions that Weymouth delivered , with day one ’ s light and shifty winds followed by three days of 20 + knots of wind and up to four 45-minute back-to-back races per day . Oliver Chambers and Henry Wilkinson were the first school boat , third male team and fourth overall ; Jasper Nelson and James Tinline finished second in silver fleet ; and Mika Woo and Jane Kim won the Fevaship award .
A personal highlight was the Cornah Cup regatta for students , staff and Old Sennockians . This was a huge success , with OS from multiple generations sailing and reconnecting at Bough Beech sailing club .
Finally , at the BSDRA finals , Sevenoaks won the U17 trophy , becoming back-to-back champions – an incredible achievement against teams from the UK , Ireland , USA and China . Racing took place over two days , with a light breeze on the first day which faded , leading to a long postponement ashore . Day two had a building breeze , eventually reaching top end racing conditions . All the sailors were a credit to the school both on and off the water , continually improving with a passion for sailing shining through .
Rich Sheridan
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