Youth Match Racing champ moves on

Sam Goodchild heads for RYA National Match Racing Championship Grand Final

Reigning RYA National Youth Match Racing champion Sam Goodchild has booked his place in the 2009 RYA National Match Racing Championships Grand Final after sweeping to qualifier two success last weekend (23-24 May).

The Bristol-born Goodchild, 19, was crowned Britain’s top under 20 match racer as he and his team trounced all before them to wrap up the 2008 National Youth title without dropping a single race in three days of racing at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy last August.

And he was in equally clinical form at Queen Mary as he and teammates Dave Chapman, Tom Altmann, Nick Wilkinson and Finlay Curren enjoyed a five-out-of-five round robin cleansweep on Saturday before light winds scuppered any chance of sailing on Sunday.

With Oxford SC’s Goodchild topping the table with a 100 per cent record, Rob Gullan snatched second spot with four wins out of six, edging Katie Archer into third place on account of beating Archer in their head-to-head contest.

Team Goodchild are now poised to make their assault on the overall 2009 RYA National Match Racing Series title when the Grand Final takes place at QMSC between 9 – 11 October.

In total seven qualifying rounds, including the RYA Youth, RYA Women’s and BUSA Match Racing Championship events, will be contested between April and September before the top British crews from each event are invited to do battle at the Series Grand Final.

The 2009 Championships will be contested in the RYA’s fleet of J80s with a maximum of 12 skippers accepted for each of the qualifying events.