The Regatta Sailing Academy club championships 2016 was decided over three events throughout the season. The first event was held on 18th December, the second on February 9th and the final, non discardable event was held on May 6th. Heading into the final event a number of competitors could take the overall title depending on finishing positions.
The day dawned with light winds but a building sea breeze. The competitors attended their pre race welcome and briefing held by the Regatta staff and then launched and headed to the start line just off the beach in Katara, Doha.
The race got under way at the first attempt in roughly 6 knots of wind. Three boats were judged to be over the start line early including defending champion Spike Douglass. First to the windward mark was the father daughter pairing of Igor and Uxia Escobar sailing a Laser Vago followed closely by overall title hope Charles Jones. The wind speed decreased as the race progressed calling for some “heads out the boat” sailing to spot the best winds. In the laser fleet the lead changed hands a number of times between overall title hopes. The pico fleet also saw very close competition with Tim Marsh and Zoe Escobar pushing each other around the course, followed closely by Eelke Cath. Oliver Taheri was unable to hold onto his early lead in the face of his more experienced competitors but showed great promise for future events. The RS Tera fleet had less position changes with Nevio Carta never letting his grip of the race slip however he was closely pursued by Theo Boyd throughout.
After 40 minutes of racing, race officer Hannah Williams decided to shorten course and record results as they stood. Race coaches Oliver Richardson and Sam Hancock watched on as their students pushed for the last few metres as they approached the finishing line.
Once the fleet has returned to the beach the prize giving ceremony was held on the beach of the academy in front of the beautiful amphitheatre of Katara and was attended by the sponsors of Regatta Sailing Academy, Trinity talent, Qatar and Qatar British Business forum.
The overall results were as follows;
Club championships event 3
1st Tera – Nevio Carta
1st Pico – Zoe Escobar
1st Vago – Igor and Uxia Escobar
1st Laser – Arturo Carta
Overall Club championships 2016
1st – Arturo Carta, 4 points
2nd – Spike Douglass, 4 points
3rd – Charles Jones – 6 points
Full results and photos can be found on the Regatta Sailing Academy Facebook page. The staff would like to offer their congratulations to all the competitors in the series throughout the season and are looking forward to the next event which is the Inter-schools Regatta 2016 held on 9th May 2016.