What a wonderful Northern Traveller Series we have had this year! A range of clubs across the North of the UK hosted brilliant traveller events for us to attend. Ullswater, Otley, Hollingworth, Bassenthwaite, Dee, Filey, Pennine, Beaver and Ripon, welcomed us all dutifully as we plagued the water with our red sails.
We had a brilliant turnout this year, and the weather played on our side for the majority of the weekends. We saw single handers, double handers, masters and children all competing this year and battling it out for the final trophy. It was great to see so many of the squad boats, past and present, taking part and showing everyone how taking part in a squad can develop and improve your sailing as we saw people come from no racing experience at all, to pushing all the experienced sailors aside and showing us that there is fresh meat coming up through the system.
The nine events were spaced out throughout the year and were sailed fairly and there were hardly any protests or disputes which goes to show what a disciplined class the mirror has become and proves that it is the perfect class of boat for people who are new to racing. This year we had many experienced sailors giving out sound advice and tips with regards to rigging and set up which really boosted the confidence of the fresher sailors.
Massive thanks has to go to Matt Grayson for organising the events and keeping his spread sheet (or should I say ‘back of an old letter’) with the results for each event on. Also thanks to Sarah Richards for also helping to organise these events, most of our Northern success would not be possible without her input and organisation. Special thanks go to Ripon Sailing Club for hosting the final event for the Traveller Series and conducting the final prize giving.
The final top 5 overall were:
1st Emma Grayson and Ben Settle
2nd Rachel Grayson and George Stainforth
3rd Tom Dean and Ellie Benn
4th Emma Clayton and Faye Caswell
5th George Richards and Alexander Baird
Report by Emma Grayson
The report for the final event, at Ripon Sailing Club can be found here:
