Saxton brothers 1,2

Volvo Musto Optimist inlands at Grafham

From 14th – 15th May, Grafham Water Sailing Club played host to the Volvo Musto Optimist Inland Championships 2005. A record breaking three hundred and six sailors competed in the regatta including recently selected sailors from the British World and European squads.

The standard of racing was extremely high especially at the front of the fleets, where young sailors who have recently been selected for the Optimist World and European Championships were battling it out for the prestigious title of Volvo Musto Inland Champion.

The senior and junior sailors raced together and were split into two flights. Six races were planned for the Championship; all three races were completed in testing conditions on Saturday, in winds of 16-20 knots, with gusts of up to 25 knots. On Sunday, racing had to be cancelled due to the lack of wind.

Local sailors and twin brothers Ben and Tim Saxton, 14 from Grafham Water, battled it out at the front of the fleets against the other selected world sailors Owain Matthews, 15 from Warsash and Imogen Stanley, 15 from Bowmoor.

Ben won his first two races and was second in the third and final race to score four points overall, and the overall victory in the Championship while twin brother Tim, secured two second places and a first, to finish on five points and second place overall.

This is the brother’s last optimist UK national event, as after the optimist World Championships in July they are both moving into the 420 class together.

The brothers had the following to say about the weekend’s racing, “The racing on Saturday was pretty tough, and we had to do a lot of bailing! We are now focusing on the Optimist World Championships and will be training hard for this event”.

Hannah Diamond, 15 from Warsash who has been selected for the team going to the European Championships, also sailed well to finish in fourth place overall and first girl.

Sarah Rees, Sports Marketing Manager at Volvo Car UK had the following to say about the event. “Another excellent weekend of Youth Sailing. Apart from the healthy lifestyle, which is so important for any children, the enthusiasm and the skills they demonstrate at such an early age are to be commended and Volvo enjoy contributing to this”.

The Inland Championships is one of the three key Optimist sailing regattas, the other events being the Volvo Musto National Championships and the Volvo Musto End of Season Championships. After competing at all three Championships selectors will then select the National squad for 2006. The National Squad will then also get an invitation to the Volvo Musto Optimist World and European selections which take place in April/May next year.

The Optimist is the most popular dinghy class and the majority of the worlds best sailors learnt to sail in it. 90% of the sailors who competed at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games learnt to sail in an Optimist.