The inaugural Ronstan Junior Foiling Cup was held over 23rd & 24th November 2024 at BYRA sailing club on Pittwater, NSW Australia. Junior sailors aged 10-16 years old competed in 6 Nikki foiling dinghies. Each sailor competed in 5 races, in a round robin format with a final 6th heat to decide the winner.
The 19 participants came from as far afield as Noosa, Ballina, Canberra and several clubs around Sydney. Most were experienced in racing Optimist, Open Skiff, F11 and 13’ Skiffs but only one had any previous dinghy foiling experience. There were 8 girls and 11 boys in the fleet. Most were 11-14 years old and weighed 35-50Kg and definitely enjoyed themselves!
The Nikki foiling dinghies were rigged and trolleyed to the water where instruction was given about launching and retrieving the boats. They only need knee deep water to launch and sail away from the beach. No need to tip them over or swim them out to deep water.
The boats were then sailed to the course by the first group of sailors in displacement mode and as the wind picked up there was time for foiling practice.
There were plenty of spills and thrills at first during the training sessions and first few races. These boats are very forgiving, durable, unsinkable and easy to right & board from a capsize. The sail can be lowered with a halyard for safe handling on the water.
Incredibly, those skippers with good boat handling skills could get foiling within just 10 minutes and after just one hour on the water they very quickly became proficient at sustained flights across the bay. All entrants got flying, however it was clear that the natural ability of some was exceptional.
There was some on-water training and coaching involved, but as the boats are stable and easy to sail in displacement mode and foiling skills are picked up naturally very quickly.
Racing was on a triangular course with a reaching start. All 16 races were completed in a full range of wind conditions. Most races involved foiling in the gusts as well as some displacement sailing. These winged dinghies are highly versatile, being faster in displacement mode than conventional junior dinghies, so they don’t have to wait for wind to go racing.
Skippers exchanged boats from the lillypad attached to the start boat. This was simple and fun for the competitors with over 96 transfers conducted without assistance or incident. It also allowed all competitors to be on course with a front row seat to the racing and to learn from the techniques of others. The lillypad proved a huge success and is recommended to other clubs for such events.
The racing was both close and extremely exciting as the boats take off so easily. None of the top 6 finalists had ever foiled before, however they put on a great show, foiling across the start and finish line at high speed.
Being much smaller and lighter than other foilers, these boats have been specifically designed to be easily handled by junior sailors, both on and off the water. The adjustable ride height keeps them safe in all conditions.
Results
| Place | Competitors | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Total | Final Race | Final total |
| 1 | Lachlan Jansen | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 2 | Sam Darbyshire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 3 | Leon-Wei PETIT | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 | Cooper Jury | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 20 |
| 5 | Finley Gleeson | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 21 |
| 6 | Tara Tilgner | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| 7 | Rocco Springer | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 15 | ||
| 8 | Oliver Georgiou | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 16 | ||
| 9 | Maddie Hogan | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 18 | ||
| 10 | Aubrey Webster | DNS | DNS | DNS | 1 | 1 | 20 | ||
| 11 | Jasper Fifield | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 20 | ||
| 12 | Elliott Pike | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 21 | ||
| 13 | Maya Hodzic | 2 | 2 | 2 | DNS | DNS | 24 | ||
| 14 | Vivienne Matthews | 4 | 4 | 4 | DNS | DNS | 24 | ||
| 15 | Lachlan Frearson | DNS | DNS | DNS | 3 | 5 | 26 | ||
| 16 | Tayla Lees | DNS | DNS | DNS | 5 | 5 | 28 | ||
| 17 | Declan Kelly | DNS | DNS | DNS | 6 | 6 | 30 | ||
| 18 | Maeve Kelly | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | 30 | ||
| 19 | Ethan Kirkbride | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | 30 |
Many thanks to the sponsors and supporters of this event including:
Ronstan, Doyle Sails, Forward WIP, CST Composites, Australian Sailing and Skeeta Watersports
Many thanks also to the group of dedicated BYRA volunteers who made this event possible, along with their rescue craft, marks, starters boat, lillypad, club facilities and canteen.
Thanks also to Skeeta Watersports of Melbourne who design & manufacture the incredible Nikki foiling dinghy and so kindly provided the 6 boats for this regatta.
What’s Next
The Nikki Sailing Association of Australia Inc. is holding further Junior Foiling Cup events in Victoria and other states to be announced in coming months. Keep up to date on https://www.facebook.com/juniorfoiling and https://www.instagram.com/juniorfoiling/
Similar Junior Foiling Cup events are also proposed to be held in USA, France, Spain, Switzerland, Chile, New Zealand and others to be announced, culminating in a World class event in Europe at a place and date to be announced soon.
Nikki class Junior Foiling racing will also be hosted at each of the coming Youth Sail events around Australia where you can bring your own Nikki or charter a boat for the event.
Credit: Nikki Class Association of Australia Inc.
@nikkisailing
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