MidSummer Medley Part 2 The Fleets Trophies
Published 06:34 on 15 Jul 2026
After the excitement of the 9-5 Race on Saturday, Sunday saw a very different style of racing during the Fleets Trophies. This year we had class racing for Streakers, Solos, Supernovas and Optimists, although the Streaker fleet was reduced by several sailors being away at the Nationals which also removed one of the family rivalries from the water.
The wind was a little stronger than on Saturday but still predominantly from the East meaning committee boat starts in the North lake were essential. The Race Officers chose to combine some of the fleet starts to keep the start sequence contained and set a nice long line which should have been long enough to prevent any problems, but the first Streaker/Supernova start still included chaos, shouts of PROTEST and boats going backwards. Chris and Mike stayed well clear of the start line chaos and popped out clear of the pack. Lucy was not so lucky but managed to fight through the pack over the first two laps before benefitting from a lucky gust to bring her back into contention with the top two and eventually working her way round the shifts for a win.
In the Solos the battle of the Jacksons was won by Steve, but Richard came out top of the fleet. Things were a little more unexpected in the Supernova and Optimist fleet, with Tom pushing Martin back into second in the Supernovas while Katie was delighted to finally record a win over big brother Callum in the Oppies. In the Laser/Mixed fleet, Coral went swimming allowing James to finish as top Watt, though Alastair took top spot in the fleet, pushed hard by Dominic in the Aero.
After lunch the Race Officers reset the course slightly and the fleets launched for two back-to-back races. Staying clear of the start line chaos this time Lucy took an early lead (once she'd worked out the difference between 7 & 8 in the course). Richard took a second win in the Solos, while Martin and Callum took the wins in the Supernova and Optimist fleets, meaning there was all to play for going in to the final races.
After another small course tweak to stop the fleets sailing through the finish line twice per lap the final race saw Lucy and Richard retain top spots in the Streaker and Solo fleets and Martin take a second win in the Supernovas to win that fleet. Racing was extremely tight in the Optimist fleet though, with Felix pushing hard for a win of his own and final run and leeward mark rounding proving decisive. In the end Callum had done just enough on the run to get a clear mark rounding and lane to the finish line, but Katie couldn't get an overlap coming into the final mark, allowing Felix to take second place.
Many thanks to James, Sue and Richard on the committee boat for all their hard work running the racing, and to Tim and Michael on safety duty.
Last updated 06:34 on 15 July 2026