HRH Princess Royal to visit RYA Youth National Championships
by Richard Aspland 16 Mar 2018 12:51 GMT
30 March - 6 April 2018
The Princess Royal meeting competitors at the 2017 RYA Youth National Championships held at Hayling Island, Hants © Paul Wyeth / RYA
Britain's most promising young sailors will get to showcase their talents to Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal when she visits the 2018 RYA Youth National Championships.
More than 230 sailors aged between 14 and 23 will go head to head in Largs, Scotland, over the week-long regatta that serves as a celebration of youth sailing.
Her Royal Highness, president of Youth National Championships organisers the Royal Yachting Association, will attend the event on Thursday 5 April, the penultimate day of racing.
It will be the third consecutive year that The Princess Royal has attended the Youth National Championships, the highlight of the youth racing calendar.
Mark Nicholls, the RYA's Youth Racing Manager, said: "It's always fantastic to have Her Royal Highness visit the Youth National Championships, the country's premier youth sailing event.
"Her Royal Highness is a great supporter of both youth sailing and the RYA, and is hugely interested in the sailors and their development.
"The sailors always value her support and input and we look forward to spending some time with her and catching up on all things boating."
Racing will take place in five classes: Laser Radial (girls and boys), Laser Standard (boys), 420 (girls, boys and mixed), 29er (girls, boys and mixed) and Nacra 15 (open).
The fleets will include past medallists, regional champions, new challengers and a host of young sailors getting their first taste of competition.
The regatta is also a chance to qualify for the British Youth Sailing Team that will attend the 2018 Youth Sailing World Championships in Corpus Christi, USA, in July.
Entries are now closed for the RYA Youth National Championships, which runs from March 30 to April 6.