NINETEEN sailors and canoeists from The Chase joined a total of 66 to sail and canoe in the Worcester School Sailing and Canoeing Assoc-iation Annual Regatta at Upton Warren, Bromsgrove.

The weekend events were made up of six sailing fleets sailing four races. Young people taking part in the Regatta vary in ability from those who have only learned to sail or canoe this year, to those already sailing at national level.

The Chase had sailors in each of the six fleets and from the beginning of the weekend dominated the Pico, Topaz and Handicap fleet. At the end of four races, Chase sailors Adam Morris and Ryan Atkinson had achieved second in the Pico fleet; Amy Mason and Talitha Smith second in the Topaz fleet; and after a fierce battle between John Herbert and Ben Martin, Ben secured first place and John second place in the Handicap fleet, the most prestigious trophy of the weekend.

The canoe slalom was dominated by The Chase from the beginning with in the junior event, Ryan Atkinson winning third, Sam Walker second and Adam Morris first, in the senior event John Herbert won first place.

In the canoe long distance event again in the junior event, Ryan Atkinson won third place and Sam Walker second place. The Senior event saw a very close battle with John Herbert winning second place just being beaten on the final few strokes.

The Bell Boat canoe event, which takes place at the end of the day on Saturday, is always an exciting event with teams of 12 members consisting of pupils, teachers and parents from each school competing in a timed race around the lake.

The event takes place in heats, there only being two bell boats. The final result is a closely guarded secret until the presentation on Sunday afternoon. The Chase came in with a convincing win, five seconds faster than their nearest rival.

The Hereford Shield is a trophy awarded to a sailor from the county who has improved and put in considerable effort over the last year. This year the trophy was awarded to Robert Harding from the Chase.

In addition to individual trophies for each event, the combined results produce a Best School Team trophy, which this year returned to The Chase, for the first time in four years.

The finale for an excellent weekend sailing and canoeing was the presentation on Sunday afternoon made by Dave Plummer, a local sailor who has recently returned from sailing around the world.

Five Chase sailors, Ben Martin, John Herbert, Harriet Bell, Robert Harding and Ed Sinclair will be representing the County at the National Schools Youth Regatta to be held at Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire. This is a week long event and with a total of 350 boats from around the country claims to be the largest youth regatta in the world.

Enquiries for anybody interested in taking part in school sailing and canoeing whether beginner or more experienced should be made to Vivien Brookes on (01684) 569253.