The first event in the 2019 Cambridgeshire Youth League took place at Grafham on Saturday 1st June. In fact it should have been the second event but bad weather caused the first, at Cam SC to be postponed and that is now scheduled for Saturday 8th June.
35 young sailors from Grafham, Cam, Hunts and Ely Sailing Clubs enjoyed sunshine and mainly light breezes to sail three races round a trapezoid course set by Race Officer Gordy Baines.
The largest fleet was the Toppers, there were also 7 Optimists, 3 RS Aero 5s, an RS Feva and a 2000.
The event was won by Grafham RS Aero sailor Jonathan Bailey, 
with Grafham’s James Clarke second in a Topper.
Amelie Hacker from Hunts finished in third place.
Grafham’s Jodie Jackson won the Endeavour prize.
The full results can be found here.
The remaining events after Cam SC on 8th June are: 13th July at Ely, 7th September at Hunts and 12th October at Paxton
Such a VHF transmission is no longer gibberish to four GWSC members who spent May 25 on our club-level mark-laying course. The participants learnt about using GPS to measure distances and bearings and how to use a hand-bearing compass to check angles. They also learnt about how crucial it is to communicate fully with their crew and the race officer, including about wind speed and direction. So congratulations to Alex Lamdin, Beth Parish, and Carol and Ian Paterson for doing the course. And thanks to Bill Parish and Ian Wilson for instructing. If the title above still remains gibberish and you would like to know what it means, why not think about attending one of the next two dates: July 27 or August 31 (you need to have at least Powerboat Level Two).
The 5th Grafham Easter Egg, held on 19th-20th April, was a great success. 62 young sailors enjoyed warm sunny conditions, with wind that became lighter as the event went on, finally dying just after the finish of the final race. This annual event originally started as an Optimist Open Meeting, but this year was opened up to all youth classes, with starts for Toppers and a Handicap fleet, as well as the Optimist Main and Regatta Fleets. 17 Toppers, 3 Topper 4.2s and 1 Pico joined the 40 Optimists for six races run by Race Officer Nigel Denchfield and his team. Visitors travelled from as far afield as Guernsey and North Wales.
The winner of the Handicap fleet was Matthew Donley from Grafham in a Topper 4.2.
Poppy McEwan from Grafham and Olivia Elliott from Guernsey YC received Endeavour Awards in the Optimist Regatta fleet.
Eliana Edwards from Parkstone YC received the award for Sportsmanship.
Lotte Post from Grafham Water SC was 4th Topper and Oscar Bell from Cam SC was 5th.
The Endeavour Award for the Topper fleet went to Josh Donley.
Dave Philpott, with various crews, won the Frostbite series, with Katy Wyatt won the Ron Howard trophy and with Pip Chapman won the Bob Grubb Grand Prix trophy.
