The Corinthian Otters, the youth section of the Royal Corinthian at Burnham on Crouch, held their annual International Cadet open meeting over the weekend of 23- 24 June. The event sponsored by Holt Allen, with Kim Allen as race officer attracted 43 entries, with the RYA in attendance as part of their selection process for the Zonal Squad.

Racing got underway on Saturday in a sunny Force 3-4 easterly. With wind and tide in the same direction, race one saw a clear start the first time. A close battle ensued between Thom Makey crewed by James Harley (Otters) and James Hughes / Anna Graves (Otters), with Makey taking the honours and Laura Wade and Harry Harris (Otters) taking the third slot.

Race two saw James Hughes having a very close race with Matt Summers / Will Rusden (Highcliffe), with the two boats side by side on the last leeward leg, Hughes got across the line first, only to discover his OCS at the start.

By the time the third race got underway, the tide had turned and after one general recall the fleet got started under a black flag, with none of the front runners getting penalised. This race was won by James Wade / Oliver Herve (Otters) with Oliver Gray / Tye Wichard (Otters) second and Matt Summers third.

At the end of the first day, with Matt Summers results at 4,1,3; Thom Makey on 1,4,4 and several others hoping to discard one of the races already sailed, it meant everything was still to play for on Sunday.

After a great evening with a meal and disco at the club, Sunday produced plenty of sunshine but little wind, but after an hours delay a Force 2-3 easterly enabled good fair racing. With two races scheduled, the Makey / Harley crew left nothing to chance leading most of the way around both races and taking two firsts, producing an overall winner for the home club for the first time since Richard Edwards won it 10 years ago.

Overall Results

1st 9049, Thom Makey, James Harley (Otters)7pts

2nd 8359 Matt Summers, Will Rusden (Highcliffe) 11pts

3rd 8846 James Hughes, Anna Graves (Otters) 17pts

4th 8853 John Elphinstone, Claire Dallimore (Otters) 18pts

5th 8519 Oliver Gray, Tye Wichard (Otters) 19pts

6th 9231 James Wade, Oliver Herve (Otters) 21pts

1st Under 15

James Wade, Oliver Herve

1st Under 14

Alex Shanahan, Jamie Munro

1st Girl

Laura Wade

Photo: (left-right) Jessica Makey (Commodore of Corinthian Otters), Tom Makey and James Harley (overall winners) and Wendy Eagling (Commodore of the Royal Corinthian YC) – photo Paul Noonan