Volvo further their commitment

Swedish car manufacturer to back National Youth Match Racing championships

As part of the newly formed Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme, Volvo Car (UK) Ltd is to sponsor this years National Youth Match Racing Championships. The event will be held at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy over the weekend of the 23-25 August 2003.

There is the potential for the winner of the Volvo RYA National Youth Match Racing Championships to then compete at the Coca Cola Cup in New Zealand, which is dubbed the Youth Match Racing World Championships. The RYA selectors will be on hand to see if any of the teams are of the standard required to attend the prestigious event.

The winner will also qualify for a place in the RYA National Match Racing Final, which takes place over the weekend of the 26-28 September at Weymouth.

This year the event has been designated as an ISAF Grade 3 event. This will give the young sailors an opportunity to establish themselves on the ISAF World Match Race Rankings.

Selectors will be on hand at the Volvo RYA National Match Racing Championships to observe the racing with the hope of finding additional sailors to join the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme.

For anyone who would additionally like the chance to try out for the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme, the final keelboat training weekend, which incorporates the team selection, took place over the weekend of the 4-6 July. Due to the high numbers of applications that attended the weekend, the RYA is considering running an additional keelboat training weekend and interested parties should contact David Atkinson at the RYA.

RYA Racing Services Manager, Dave Atkinson said, "I am delighted that Volvo are supporting Match Racing in this country and by sponsoring this event it enhances their involvement with the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme."

"The Championships provide another opportunity to identify the sailing talent of the future, something that the Volvo RYA Keelboat programme is committed to. We are delighted to be sponsoring this year's event as we are the programme as a whole," said James Kendall, Sponsorship Manager Volvo Car (UK) Ltd.

Entry forms and the notice of race are now available on the RYA website, www.rya.org.uk/Racing/MatchRacing/ or for further information contact Jill Royse or David Atkinson, email: jill.royse@rya.org.uk tel: 0845 345 0400.