Hamilton hungers for gold as Brits gear up for Youth Worlds
by Ellie Williamson, RYA 6 Jul 2010 22:33 BST
9-18 July 2010
RYA Volvo Team GBR: Back Steve Irish,Dom Tidey,Sam Batten,Mike Wood,Adam Butler,Hugh Brayshaw,Duncan Truswell, Middle: Sophie McKeeman,Sam Sills,Henry Lloyd Williams,Hannah Mitchell Front: Cameron Douglas,Izzy Hamilton,Nikki Boniface,Joanna Freeman © Paul Wyeth / RYA
RYA Youth Racing Manger Duncan Truswell is urging his young guns to “enjoy and learn” as 12 of Britain’s up-and-coming sailors headed off for Turkey today (Tuesday 6 July) to represent RYA Volvo Team GBR at the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships.
However for Britain’s most experienced member of the team, World RS:X Youth Champion Izzy Hamilton who will be making her appearance at the event a hat-trick this year, a gold medal is the priority. The 17-year-old’s hunger is now heightened for the title after narrowly missing out on gold at the warm up RS:X Youth European Championships in Sopot, Poland which finished on Friday (2 July). Despite leading the pack most of the week, Hamilton picked up silver losing out on gold to Israel’s Youth Worlds hope Ofir Halevy. She vows she will go “one better” next week.
Around 340 of the World’s top Olympic hopefuls of the future will converge on Istanbul for the prestigious annual regatta, which gets underway on Friday (9 July).
The sailors were selected for Turkey following their performances at the 2010 RYA Volvo Youth National Championships at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in April and Britain’s SL16 catamaran pair Adam Butler and Nikki Boniface will be joining Hamilton in the event veterans line up having competed in last year’s championships in Brazil. The remaining nine sailors will be making their event debuts in Istanbul.
Truswell, one of three RYA support staff accompanying the sailors to Istanbul, believes the youngsters should be looking to take as much from the experience as they possibly can.
He said: “The Youth Worlds is quite different to what most of the sailors are used to, it is a huge event and it offers a unique insight and flavour of the Olympic multiclass experience on a large scale. There is no better regatta for youngsters to learn at and it can be a real tipping point for sailors in making that mental commitment to following the Olympic dream.”
“We’ve got a mixture of some young sailors going to the event to gain experience, as well as those very much hoping first and foremost for a top performance. As a team however we want to focus on learning as much as we can from the event and above all to enjoy it.”
“We’ve spent quite a bit of time getting to know each other now and with the supportive, open and honest environment we have created in the team I really hope this will enable all the sailors to achieve all they are capable of.”
With multiple Olympic gold medallists Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy, Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb among the many high-profile Brits who have represented their country at the celebrated Under 19 event, the class of 2010 cannot wait to have the chance to follow in their heroes’ footsteps.
At 16, Boys’ Radial representative Cameron Douglas is the youngest member of RYA Volvo Team GBR. He said: “It’s pretty special going to the youth worlds, after all the work I’ve put in over the past 3-4 years – to have that rewarded with a place at the event representing my country is a pretty amazing feeling really.”
Meanwhile 2009 veteran Nikki Boniface said: “We’re aiming to improve on our fifth last year but if we can just do the best we can and be satisfied with our performance then we’ll be happy – it’ll be a great experience.”
Boy’s 420 helm Mike Wood added: “It would be a massive achievement to bring back gold. The last two 420 British boys crews have come back with gold medals from the event so we’ve got a lot to live up to in that respect - ultimately we’ll do our best and hopefully bring back the silverware slash gold ware!”
The Volvo Trophy will be awarded to the overall top performing nation with RYA Volvo Team GBR looking to regain the trophy that they clinched in Denmark two years ago.
With RYA Volvo Team GBR once again being supported by Musto for the ISAF Youth Worlds, racing is scheduled to start on Sunday 11 July with each class set to contest 12 races over the course of five days’ of racing. Tuesday 13 July is scheduled to be a lay day with prizes awarded on Friday 17 July.
To learn more about all the RYA Volvo Team GBR sailors competing in Turkey visit the new RYA website or follow the team on Facebook at RYA Volvo Team GBR.
RYA Volvo Team GBR squad for 2010, Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships, Istanbul, Turkey:
420:
Boys: Mike Wood and Hugh Brayshaw
Girls: Joanna Freeman and Hannah Mitchell
29er:
Henry Lloyd Williams and Sam Batten
RS:X:
Boys: Sam Sills
Girls: Izzy Hamilton
Laser Radial:
Boys: Cameron Douglas
Girls: Sophie McKeeman
SL16:
Adam Butler and Nikki Boniface