Sarah Ayton/Dempsey joins selectors

Double Olympic medallist joins the team at the RYA Volvo Youth Nationals

Double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Dempsey (nee Ayton) is putting her experience to good use acting as a selector at the RYA Volvo Youth National Championships and Trials in Largs, Scotland this week.

Dempsey, who is expecting her first child with Olympic windsurfer Nick Dempsey in June, is spending three days’ on the water on Scotland’s West Coast as part of the RYA’s team of selectors for July’s Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Buzios, Brazil.

The Skandia Team GBR star herself won an RYA Youth Nationals title in 1998 which resulted in her selection for Britain’s team for the ISAF Youth Worlds in South Africa that year, where she won a silver medal in the Laser Radial class.

And having been invited to join the selection panel for this year’s Youth Worlds team, which will go to Brazil defending the Volvo Trophy for the top performing nation, Dempsey said she had been impressed by what she had seen so far in Largs.

“I was genuinely really honoured to be invited to be a selector. I remember when I won my Youth Nationals title in Weymouth Ben Ainslie was a selector and when he said ‘Well done’ to me after I’d won it really did inspire me to want to go on to bigger things.

“The sailors have impressed me this week; they seem to realise the seriousness of the event and their commitment and dedication to race every race well and like every race needs to count.

“There is also a real spread of ages from the younger kids who are just coming out of the Laser 4.7 and Toppers, for example, getting among a big competitive fleet for the first time. Sailing is a sport of experience and for the younger guys looking at the top sailors here you hope they use it as a bit of a taster of what could be possible and motivates them to continue.

“Everytime I come back to these events I’m always impressed by the sheer numbers of sailors, range of sailor ages and event organisation. The team are doing a fantastic job ensuring that by the time sailors reach 18 they are in a great position to step into the senior classes with a good understanding of what is required of them before and during a big event.”

The RYA Volvo Youth National Championships and Trials is the premier racing event for 19 and under sailors in Britain. No fewer than six of Britain’s medallists at Beijing 2008 have held RYA Youth National titles including three-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie and all three of the Yngling ‘Blondes in a Boat.’ The Championships finish on Friday 17 April