Xenia Plarre regains national junior title

The Namibian Sailing Associa­tion hosted its junior national championships at Walvis Bay Yacht Club late last month, sponsored by Catamaran Charters and Mincon.

The event was open to all sailors under 19, who sailed in two different classes of boat.

The Optimist Sailing Dinghy is an international youth boat designed specifically for children by American boat designer Clark Mills in 1947.

The Laser class is also an international class and is used for the Olympic men's and ladies single-handed classes.

The wind on the Friday started northerly before turning westerly and with low water the course was laid out in the bay beyond the moorings. Race officer Peter Davidson managed to run six races, three for each class, before allowing them onto the beach for a break.

The freshening breeze was welcomed by the more experienced sailors who completed the fourth race in the fastest times.

The Optimist class was dominated by Xenia Plarre, who was also the overall winner in 2018, and there was a fierce battle for second place between Anna Verchusa and Nicole Steyn, both with two seconds and two thirds going into the final race of the series.

The Laser class was dominated by Albertus de Klerk, although Jonathan van Zyl with two seconds was chasing him hard before he had to retire due to injury, leaving the field open for Tristan Keulder (2019's overall winner) and Deon de Klerk.

The rules allowed competitors to discard their worst race to count 4 out of the 5 races, giving the following results:



JUNIOR NATIONALS OPTIMIST CLASS

1 Xenia Plarre

2 Nicole Steyn

3 Anna Verchusa

4 Tangeni Schulz

5 Stephen Fourie

6 Emily Zander

7 Danelle Swart

8 Toy Page



JUNIOR NATIONALS LASER CLASS

1 Albertus de Klerk

2 Tristan Keulder

3 Deon de Klerk

4 Jacques Swart

5 Jonathan van Zyl



The medal race final was very close with Albertus, Tristan, Nicole and Xenia all looking like strong contenders. The final race was started in a 10 knots of breeze.

All boats started together on the same course with the Lasers doing four laps and Optimists doing two laps. Results were calculated using the Portsmouth Yardstick Handicap system and only 23 seconds, corrected time, separated the top four competitors, illustrating how close the racing was.

The final overall results were:

1 Xenia Plarre (Optimist)

2 Albertus de Klerk (Laser)

3 Tristan Keulder (Laser)

4 Nicole Steyn (Optimist)

5 Anna Verchusa (Optimist)

6 Deon de Klerk (Laser)

7 Jacques Swart (Laser)

8 Danelle Swart (Optimist)

9 Emily Zander (Optimist)

10 Toy Page (Optimist)

11 Jonathan van Zyl (Laser)

11 Stephen Fourie (Optimist)

13 Tangeni Schultz (Optimist)

The prize-giving was conducted by Lauren Davidson from the Namibian Sailing Association, who presented the re-dedicated trophy in memory of Craig Gibson, in recog­nition of his significant contribution to junior sailing before his untimely death in October.

Organisers expressed thanks to the Commodore of WBYC, Theo Schoeman, for hosting the event and those who provided rescue cover, racing and shore administration as well as all parents and competitors who supported the event. In addition a final thanks goes to the sponsors Catamaran Charters and Mincom.