22 November 2024

Youth Schools Match Racing in Weymouth

Over the weekend Ryde School took part in the Youth Schools Match Racing in Weymouth. A format of racing where each race is one v one, with two round robins followed by a best of three Final and Semi-Final.

We had two teams competing (Ruby and James), and both performed exceptionally well. James’ team, consisting of Elias, Max, and Kai, finished 3rd. It was a great comeback for James’ team after losing a team member on the first day due to an injury and being forced to sail in strong winds one crew member down.

James and his team were also unluckily impacted by an incorrect umpire decision which cost them a race but the team were magnanimous in accepting the umpire’s apology and moving on. In their semi-final (the third vs fourth play off) their opponent ran aground in the first race causing an abandonment which was again, frustrating for James' team who were in a winning position but they refocused and had two consecutive wins to secure third place.

Ruby’s team, with Sam, Zeb, and Catherine, had an incredible competition. They finished Day 2 with 100% win rate and went into the Final.

After some very tight racing against Royal Hospital School, they went on to win the event and claim the first place trophy and the first Women’s Trophy, winning all their races on Sunday.

A huge thank you to Director of Sailing Mrs Manser and Ms Dyer for their support throughout the event. It was also great to see so many other Ryde students around Weymouth over the weekend competing in their own sailing including Cass and Fallon D, Oli S, Ben A and Alice P.