Quest for Olympic hopefuls

1,000 young sailors took the waters across the UK for the 2009 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships

More than 1,000 of the nation’s Olympic sailing hopefuls of the future took the waters across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales today for the opening day of the 2009 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships.

While much of the country revelled in the late September sunshine, championship race officers around the country were greeted with little or no wind this morning and as a result quite a challenge to get a full schedule of racing under their belts.

The north of the country was graced with the best conditions of the day; 5-10 knots of wind. With the full complement of races completed the North (Burton) and Wales (Pwllheli) events got off to a good start but it wasn’t quite such plain sailing for Northern Ireland, Scotland and the southern quarters of the country.

Wind hampered racing to start with at the West (Draycote), Northern Ireland (East Atrim), East (Grafham), Scotland (Largs), South (Poole) and South West (Weymouth and Portland) events. Initial reports of glassy water and no wind came in but lunch coaxed the wind out to play allowing for some race action in the afternoon and a sigh of relief all round.

The South East (Datchet) will have to try again to get some racing in the can tomorrow after the wind refused to play and their opening day was written off.
The Championships traditionally mark the end of the Junior racing season and are a key event for any young sailor wishing to be selected for the RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country squads, which are the first step on the pathway to Olympic Classes sailing.

Among those at the Burton North Zone event today was Team Volvo for Life and Skandia Team GBR Sailor Nick Rogers, who started his sailing in Optimists much like the young sailors competing in the championships around the country this weekend.

Rogers spent some time talking to the competitors in the dinghy park before they took to the water showing him what they can do. He commented: “It’s been fantastic to see so many young sailors out on the water really enjoying their sailing – this is where it all starts. I’ve definitely seen some great talent out on the water today and I’m sure we’ll see more of these sailors in the future.”

Rogers offered these words of advice for young sailors aiming to follow in his footsteps: “Just enjoy your sailing – take every opportunity you can to get out on the water. The more time you can spend on the water the better and the rest will start to fall into place.”

RYA Volvo South Zone Championship (Poole):

With no wind what so ever to start the day off, the south zone competitors were entertained by double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton whilst racing was postponed. Sarah, who is also Skandia Team GBR sailor, spoke to the young sailors about her Olympic experience and how she got to where she is now. After a spot of lunch and some questions from both parents and children, Sarah lead a rigging chat with the Laser 4.7 sailors and signed some of the sailors life jackets and boats.

With the hope of finding some wind on the race courses the four fleets (Optimist, Topper, Cadet and Laser 4.7) headed out at just after 14:00 and by 16:00 were enjoying racing in 5-9 knots.

Two back-to-back races went ahead with the following results:

Cadets: Mary Henderson and Annie Sibthorp lead (1,1) with Matthew Currell and Theo Smith (4,2) in second and brothers Matthew and Ben Shorrock (3,4) in third.

Mirrors: Sisters Anna and Rosie Watkins (1,4) lead with brother and sister duo John and Claire Peterson (3,3) in second and Helena Pugh and Libby Courage (2,7) in third.

Laser 4.7: David Pain (3,1) is in top spot with Andrew Bridgman (2,2) second place and Ross Stanly-Whyte (1,10) in third.


RYA Volvo South West Zone Championship (Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy):

With glorious sunshine and somewhat difficult light (1-4 knots) and changeable wind conditions, racing got off to a delayed start at around 14:00 on the 2012 Olympic waters of the south west event.

Initially blowing from the East then swinging right round to the opposite direction and blowing from the west, the wind did much to interfere with day’s plans. This enforced change to the course lay out and meant racing was delayed, leaving only enough time to get one race in before the wind died and put pay to any further racing.

After day one top three results stand as follows:

Topper class; Plymouth sailor Tom Methven leads the fleet with Chew Valleys Ellie Cumpsty in second and another Plymouth sailor Robbie Robinson in third

Optimist; Stokes Bay’s Joshua Belben sits at the top of the leader board with Scott Wallis behind him in second place and Joe Burford from Restronguet in third.

RS Feva: Morgan Peach and Herbie Harferd from Torbay lead the Feva’s with sisters Ruth and Tessa Allan in second place and duo Jack Hawkins and Chris Thomas in third.

Windsurfers: Zak Page leads the 7.8m Techno’s and Ross Bromhead heads up the 6.8m fleet with Ross Warren (3.5m), Isabelle Savage (4.5m) and Danile Wilson (5.5m) also occupying top spots in their classes.


RYA Volvo Welsh Zone and Home Countries Championships (Pwllheli):

Cloudy conditions and six knots of wind greeted the Welsh young sailors this morning which meant racing could get under way as scheduled. By the end of the afternoon sailors were also able to enjoy wall to wall sunshine rounding off a very successful day - having got a full complement of three races under their belts.

Racing got under way at 12:05 for the Optimists and Topper sailors and after three races Joshua Burgess leads the Optimist fleet with Miles Jackson in second and Rowan Edwards in third. Ellie Meopham beat all the boys to top the Toppers, with Thomas Williams in second and Michael Becket in third.


RYA Volvo South East Championship (Datchet):

Competitors at the South East event kicked off the day with some fun land based games this morning after racing was postponed with barely a breath of wind blowing over Datchet Water.

After lunch and a talk on race decision making from event coach Marcus Lynch, the wind picked up a little and all three classes (Optimist, Topper and Windsurfers) racing at the South East event launched with the hope of finding enough wind on the race course to get some results in. However In the end the wind maxed out at just 3 knots, and racing had to be abandoned at around 17:00.

With a change in the sailing instructions to allow for four races, hopes for tomorrow are more wind and some racing.

RYA Volvo East Zone Championship (Grafham ):

Wind was a little calm at Grafham too. A 4-7 knot light westerly was enough however for all four classes (Optimist, Topper, Cadet and Dragoon) to get some racing in with two races going ahead in the Topper and Dragoon classes and a full schedule of three races taking place in the Optimist and Cadet classes.

The sun came out once racing had finished rounding off a successful first day.

Results after day one stand as follows:

Dragoon: Sebastian Samways and Daniel Channing lead having won both races with Jack Muldoon and Rhys Cooke in second posting a 3,2 and brothers Adam and Jack Murphy posting a 2,2.

Topper: Bryony Bennett-Lloyld leads posting a 1,3 with Annabelle Cattermole coming second in both her races and sitting behind her in third Gavin Page posting a 6,1.

Optimist: James Hutton-Penman leads with 2,1,1 with Chay Taylor in second posting 4,3,3 and Hamish Eckstein in third with 5,9,3.

Cadet: Alex and Lucy Corby top the leader board having won all their races with Joseph and Francis Butterworth in second posting 4,2,4 and in third place are Annie Knott and Sammy Jones having posted 2,5,8.


RYA Volvo West Zone Championship (Draycote):

With no wind what so ever to start proceedings, the young sailors in the west zone were staring at the prospect of no racing for the day however, by early afternoon the wind filled in up to five knots which allowed all sailors to get out on the race course.

Winds were variable throughout the afternoon, making for a tricky day, which benefited the most alert sailors. The Techno 6.8 and 7.8 classes managed to squeeze in two races, with all other classes completing one race.

Standings after day one are:

4.5 Techno: Top Sarah Labourne with Harry Davis in second and Jordan Howram in third.

5.5 Open: Top Scott Collins with Cameron Coghill in second and Charlotte Seal in third.

6.8 Techno: Top Oliver Bradley-Baker with Robert York in second and Emma Labourne in third.

7.8 Techno: Top Adam Purcell with Kieran Burley in second and Luke Taylor in third

Optimist: Top Lucy Best with Matthew Cross in second and Martin Wrigley in third

Topper: Andrew Stott with Dan Venables in second and Curtis Mearns in third.

RS Feva: Top, Robert and Emma Loveridge, with George and Ed Shelley in second and Lucy Yeates and Rachel Wilcock in third.

The standard of sailing has been high, and with all still to play for, sailors will be planning early nights to prepare for a full day of racing tomorrow!

RYA Volvo North Zone Championship (Burton):

With Volvo for Life and Skandia Team GBR sailor Nick Rogers on the scene, the North Zones sailors were keen to impress and with six knots of breeze the conditions allowed for all three schedule races to go ahead.

Rogers gave some words of encouragement round the dinghy park as the young sailors prepared to launch, then he watched the first race from the water. Rogers reported that he was very impressed particularly by the Optimist sailors performance.

Finishing off the day with a presentation about his Olympic sailing, and his path to Double Olympic Silver medals, Rogers rounded off with a question and answer session for sailors and parents.

After day one Chris Towers (1,1,2) leads the Topper class, Andrew Kilburn (1,2,1) leads the Optimist class and Mat and Ben Lulham - Robinson (1,2,1) lead the Mirrors.


RYA Volvo Zone and Home Counties Championship (Largs):

With a promising breeze to start with, the day began well for the Scottish competitors with everyone getting out on the water around 12:00. Once the Toppers and Optimists had got out to their course however, the wind had dropped and become too shifty to run any racing so it was cancelled for the day. The windsurfers however benefitted from a better positioned race course for the days conditions, boasting more wind and less shifty conditions, allowing for a three races to go ahead.

Natalie McWilliams leads the windsurfing fleet after winning two races and posting a sixth. Tom Prescot follows in second scoring 3, 2, 3, and Ross Kenmuir is in third, 3 points behind the leaders.

More wind is forecast in the area tomorrow, bringing with it some race action in the dinghies if all goes to plan tomorrow .

RYA Volvo Northern Ireland Zone and Home Countries Championship in association with McCready Sailboats (East Antrim):

Glassy waters and no wind greeted event guest and Skandia Team GBR sailor Pippa Wilson, and the events 70 competitors at East Antrim this morning. Despite a less than promising start to the day however, the wind quite quickly filled in and with it came some glorious sunshine which allowed racing to get underway by 12:30.

Wilson toured the dinghy park offering advice to the young sailors as they rigged their boats for racing as well as signing a good number of boats and life jackets along her way.

Three back-to-back races went ahead in all four classes with Wilson finishing off the day with an inspirational talk about her Olympic success and how she got there. Wilson also answered questions from parents and children alike before the youngsters left to get some sleep in preparing for a second day of racing tomorrow.

After day one results stand as follows:

Laser Radials: Chris Penney leads the fleet with Robbie Gilmore in second and James Waugh in third.

Laser 4.7: Christopher Eaves tops the fleet with Peter Cameron in second and Ben Regan in third.

Topper 4.2: Rory Fekkes leads the Toppers with Emily Hill in second and Peter Gilmore in third.

Topper: Rounding off a fantastic day for the Gilmore family Laura Gilmore tops the Toppers with Eoin Curran in second and James O’Hare in third..