Stars of tomorrow shine

The RYA Zone Championships were mostly held in difficult conditions

They will be our sailing stars of the future, and this weekend, more than 1,000 of Britain’s hottest sailing and windsurfing properties did battle at seven venues across England and Scotland in the ever-popular RYA Zone Championships.

Whether making the podium for the first time in their fledgling careers or taking their first tentative steps on the Junior racing pathway, there will undoubtedly be names on the results sheets that shine on the International stage in years to come.

But the sailors were made to work for their success as wind conditions played a lead role in how results panned out.

With the breeze too light in some areas, heavy in others the 1,011 young guns taking part across the country had to apply a whole range of their skills honed at club training and competitions throughout the year.

At the South Zone Championships at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy no-one could touch Oxford’s Sam Jenkins, 12, on the Windsurfer 5.5 who won five out of five races while at Bewl Valley Sailing Club in Kent, Whitstable YC pair Will Lowes (13) and Tom Bruton (14) were the toast of the South East Zone Championships achieving the same feat to take the RS Feva title.

Chew Valley’s Richard Cumpsty turned in a determined performance at Restronguet Sailing Club winning all three Topper class races on day two to leapfrog the overnight leaders Tom Francis (Sidmouth) and Mark Billowes (Bristol Corinthians) at the South West Championships and in the West Zone Championships at Ullswater 13-year-old Matt Foskett (Staunton Harold SC) was pushed all the way for the Optimist title just a point separating he and second placed Toby Morsley (Portdinorwic) after Toby’s back-to-back wins in the final two races of the event.

Meanwhile the girls were also in impressive form making up over a third of all entrants nationwide. At Bewl Valley, 14-year-old Julia Beck (Papercourt) took the Topper title ahead of boys in second, third and fourth and Oakham School duo Alice Kent (14) and Lucy Childs (13) were crowned East Zone RS Feva champions.   

Despite lack of wind scuppering all racing at the North Zone and Scotland Championships on day two, Lorenzo Chiavarini was star of the Topper show north of the border, his hat-trick of day one bullets securing victory overall while the windsurfers had a ball at Notts County Sailing Club, George Bowles (15) and Luke Raistrick (12) picking up four wins apiece to take the Windsurfer 7.8 and 4.5 titles respectively.

Duncan Truswell, RYA Junior Racing Manager, admitted the quality on show at the Zone Championships never ceases to amaze him. He said:  “It is no cliché to suggest we are supremely confident that these sailors will keep the RYA Team GBR flag flying at medal ceremonies in the future.

“The sailors were forced to contend with some challenging breezes across the Zones over the weekend but the quality of racing never dropped off. Some of the especially gratifying aspects of the weekend were the numbers of girls, Laser 4.7s and windsurfers taking part across England and Scotland. We continue to see plenty of growth in all of these areas as a result of concerted efforts on behalf of the RYA.

“However, the results and numbers do not tell the full story. It is important to appreciate that we are seeing constant improvements in the standards year on year with the youngest competitors getting better all the time. This is really exciting for the future of sailing in this country.”

Meanwhile double Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie, who was at Weymouth and Portland taking part in the RYA National Match Racing Series at the same time as the South Zone Championships, also had words of encouragement for the youngsters.

He added: "It was great seeing so many young sailors taking part. With the Olympic Games taking place at Weymouth and Portland in 2012 there are going to be so many opportunities for youngsters to achieve their dreams in sailing in the next five years, whether in Olympic classes or big boats so they should all make the most of those opportunities and enjoy them."

Some 850 boats took part in this year’s Zone Championships with racing staged in the Optimist, Topper, Laser 4.7, RS Feva, Cadet, Mirror and Hobie Dragoon dinghy classes while the windsurfers competed in the BIC Techno 293 4.5, 5.5, 6.8 and 7.8 classes.

South Zone – Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, Dorset
South West Zone - Restronguet Sailing Club, Cornwall
South East Zone – Bewl Valley Sailing Club, Kent
East Zone – Grafham Water Sailing Club, Cambridgeshire
West Zone – Ullswater Yacht Club, Cumbria
North Zone – Notts County Sailing Club, Nottinghamshire
Scotland – Loch Venacher Sailing Club