RYA Youth National Championships receives a royal boost

HRH The Princess Royal will be attending the 2014 RYA Youth National Championships © Paul Wyeth / RYA

HRH The Princess Royal will be attending the 2014 RYA Youth National Championships © Paul Wyeth / RYA

Great Britain's top Youth sailors will have the chance to showcase their talents in front of a Royal audience after confirmation that HRH The Princess Royal will be attending the 2014 RYA Youth National Championships.

More than 350 of the country's best Youth racers will converge on the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy between Saturday 12 April and Friday 18 April to do battle at what is regarded as British Youth Sailing's premier annual racing event.

Having previously attended the RYA Youth National Championships at Hayling Island Sailing Club, Hampshire in 2011, HRH The Princess Royal, President of the Royal Yachting Association, will visit the London 2012 Olympic sailing venue to see the latest crop of talented sailors coming through the ranks on Thursday 17 April.

Her Royal Highness, who paid a visit to the same venue in 2012 to greet sailors from the British Sailing Team during the London 2012 Olympic Games, will take to the waters to observe Britain's next wave of Olympic hopefuls as they compete for selection for RYA Team GBR – the team which will represent Great Britain at the 2014 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Tavira, Portugal – as well as the opportunity to earn selection to the RYA UK Youth Squads and to win a host of international travel grants.

Duncan Truswell, RYA Youth Racing Manager, said: "We are delighted to once again welcome HRH The Princess Royal to the 2014 RYA Youth National Championships, the event is a huge spectacle taking place over four course areas within Portland Harbour and in Weymouth Bay. It represents the culmination of a hard winters' training for our RYA UK Youth and Transition Squads and the opportunity to win selection to many international Teams and many thousand pounds of international travel grants.

"It is a prestigious event, a celebration of the strength and depth of our programmes, and a fantastic opportunity to help us to showcase the many great things our sport can offer both to competitors, parents and volunteers. HRH's presence will no doubt inspire the next generation of British sailors to work hard, compete fairly but intensively and make friends with rivals from all over the country and the world as part of the RYA's premier youth racing competition."

Racing will be held for boys in Laser Standards, girls and boys in Laser Radials and Neil Pryde RS:X 8.5 windsurfers, and for all-boy, all-girl or mixed crews in 420s, 29ers and Spitfire catamarans.

A change for the 2014 event will see an under 21 age limit for all classes with the exception of the 420 class which has an open age limit for eligible sailors. Details of eligibility and entry criteria can be found in the Notice of Race on the event website.

The entry deadline for the 2014 RYA Youth National Championships is up until 23:59hrs on Sunday 16th March 2014 for the RS:X 8.5 windsurfer, Laser Standard and Spitfire. All other classes have up until 23:59hrs on Sunday 30th March 2014 - late entries will not be accepted.

The RYA Youth Racing programme receives generous support from official clothing supplier Henri Lloyd and Volvo Car UK.

To enter the event and for further information please visit the RYA Youth National Championships event website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.