Last call for RYA Youth Nationals entries!
by Lindsey Bell, RYA 18 Mar 2015 17:39 GMT
4-10 April 2015
29er fleet in action at the 2014 RYA Youth Nationals © Paul Wyeth / RYA
The countdown to the 2015 RYA Youth National Championships is well underway, with just five days left to enter the premier annual event for the UK's young sailing talents.
Competitors have up until Sunday 22 March to sign up for the regatta (4-10 April), where racing will take place on the famed Olympic and Paralympic waters of Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, and where RYA Youth National Champions will be crowned across six classes.
Racing will take place for under 21-year-old 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.
The event also doubles up as a selection event for the British Youth Sailing Team to compete at the EUROSAF Youth European Championships in Brest, France (26 July-2 August), and will determine invitees for the British Youth Sailing Team Selection Event for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships, to be held at Hayling Island Sailing Club from 29-31 August 2015. The 2015 ISAF Youth Worlds is to be staged in Langkawi, Malaysia, from 27 December-2 January.
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy plays host to the Youth Nationals for the second year running. Some 333 young talents have already signed up for the 2015 edition, which, for some, may yet provide a springboard into a future Olympic campaign.
RYA Youth Racing Manager Mark Nicholls said: "We're looking forward to what I'm sure will be another great RYA Youth Nationals, and in inspiring surroundings at WPNSA as the place where our Olympic talents were so successful in 2012.
"The Youth Nationals sees not only high class competition from our top sailors vying for Championship honours and squad selections, but it's also a great platform for young talents making their first steps into the youth boats to see what the competition is all about."
RYA organisers are urging youth talents to confirm their entries by the deadline of 2359hrs on Sunday 22 March. Regrettably, late entries are unable to be accepted.
To enter the event and for further information please visit the RYA Youth National Championships website. You can follow the event build up and see the action unfold on the British Youth Sailing Team Facebook page and on Twitter at @RYAyouthracing.