Webb joins the X boats

Yngling double gold medallst goes classic racing at this year's Cowes Week

Sarah Webb OBE, who won an Olympic Gold Medal in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 in the Yngling Class, has entered for Cowes Week with two good friends, Cordelia Ellis and Caroline Cooper, who have been lent X76, Myrtle, by Rob Gray who will be sailing his quarter tonner for the week.

Sarah commented: “We decided to race an X because it is a big fleet, it’s the most similar to an Yngling I could find, they’re a nice crowd and we thought it would be the best way to have a really good time in Cowes Week. We all have different objectives for the week, but the overriding one is to have fun”.

The girls won’t have had any time to practise as a crew in an X, but think it will be a fun fleet to just go racing in. “It’s a very competitive fleet and we look forward to getting out on the race course, however we don’t expect to be at the front of the fleet”, said Caroline.

This takes the number of X’s entered for Cowes Week this year to 79, which is on a par with the numbers over the last few years. It seems as if the Class will once more be the largest at Cowes by quite a margin.

The X Class will shortly be celebrating the Centenary of the first ever race of the Class held in 1911. Plans are in hand to do this in Cowes Week 2011.

Participation of Xs in racing at Club level has increased over the past two seasons. A lot of boats have changed hands and a number of resting boats have been re-launched and it seems there are more to come.

“This increased interest encourages us to believe that our ambition for there to be over 100 boats on the starting line for our centenary races is looking very achievable”, says Mark Hall, Class Captain.