Photo Credit: Paul Wyeth and the RYA
MarkSetBot was present at the recent RYA British Youth National Championships which took place at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy [London 2012 Olympic Sailing Centre], with almost 280 of the UK’s young sailing and foiling talents battling through testing conditions across 8 youth classes (ILCA 6, ILCA 7, 29er, 420, Nacra 15, Kite Foil & iQFOiL). MarkSetBots were utilised to lay out the 29er windward/leeward course and Medal racecourses. The first, third, and fifth days of racing were cancelled due to Storm Noa blowing across Southern England, and in particular across the Portland peninsular where gusts of 65 knots were recorded during the enforced laydays.
The first cancelled day provided an opportunity to showcase the heavy weather ability of the Bots holding their position in challenging conditions. In steady 28 knot winds with occasional gusts to 33 knots (measured with the onboard wind sensor) the Bots were able to hold their position comfortably, mostly using between 35-40% of their available capacity. Impressively, this would have given an expected on station battery life of around 14 hours.
When racing did get underway on Tuesday and Thursday, the competitors were met on both occasions with blustery but sunny conditions, with winds in the upper teens and low 20 knot ranges. The windward Bot carried the wind sensor allowing race officer Ann Roy to monitor the conditions at the top of the course with principal race officer David Campbell James. Onboard the committee boat with Ann was newly trained Bot operator Scott Chudley, performing mark ‘laying’ duties – ably sliding his finger across a Samsung tablet to finesse the position of the windward mark and leeward gate. The RaceOS™ course setting app helped determine the length of the legs to hit a target race duration. The accuracy of MarkSetBot’s target race calculator was evident, with each race completing within minutes of its target time. Given the likelihood of lost days, fitting in as many races as practical was top of the Race Management team’s agenda and was aided by the quick resetting of the course with MarkSetBots. Without the need for anchors to be raised or mark layers guided into position, the turnaround time between races was minimised and more races achieved.
Photo Credit: Paul Wyeth and the RYA
PRO David Campbell James commented at the completion of the regatta, “Scott [Chudley] did an excellent job, and only required the minimum of training before helping to run the 29er course in what can only be described as challenging conditions. On shore logistics with the marks was straight forward, and each mark only required around 90mins of charging to become ready for the following days use. I can’t recommend the system enough.”
Congratulations to the champions across eight youth classes!
| iQFOiL | Alexander Meadway | Swanage Sailing Club |
| 420 | Henry Heathcote Oscar Cawthorne | Royal Lymington Yacht Club Shustoke Sailing Club |
| 29er | Finlan Morris Oscar Morgan Harris | Royal Lymington Yacht Club Hayling Island Sailing Club |
| ILCA 7 | Luke Anstey | Frensham Pond Sailing Club |
| ILCA 6 Men | Christopher Marsh | Royal Hospital School |
| ILCA 6 Women | Carys Attwell | Rutland Sailing Club |
| Nacra 15 Open | Sam Cox Sophie Raven | Restronguet Sailing Club Exe Sailing Club |
| Open Kite Foil | Adam Farrington | British Kitesports Association |
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