Optimist squad training at Pwllheli Sailing Club
by Karenza Morton 28 May 2015 16:12 BST
25-28 May 2015
The spotlight fell on Pwllheli as the 16 young sailors selected to represent Great Britain at the Magic Marine 2015 Optimist European Championships - at what is set to be the first event at the new Plas Heli Welsh National Sailing Academy in July - were put through their paces training at the venue during half-term.
The youngsters, including four Welsh sailors - Rhys Lewis, Jamie Cook, Emily Hall and Hannah Roberts-Straw - will be amongst no fewer than 260 sailors from 37 nations who will take to the waters of Cardigan Bay for the first time the Optimist Europeans have even been hosted in Great British waters. The Championships get underway on Friday 17 July, with a total of five days of racing before the prizes are presented on Thursday 23 July.
The Optimist junior sailing class is widely regarded as the breeding ground for future international sailing success with four-time Olympic champion and America's Cup winner Sir Ben Ainslie a former Optimist sailor. Over 90% of sailors at London 2012 raced Optimists as juniors, including Penarth's Hannah Mills who won 470 class Olympic silver just 11 years after herself competing at the Optimist Europeans.
All four Welsh youngsters represent Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, and they and their British teammates - with eight sailors in the full Europeans Team and eight in the Development Team - enjoyed five days of the best of Pwllheli as well some expert input from Caernarfon-based Alan Williams, British National Optimist Head Coach. Many of the young talents also got their first taste of the media spotlight at a training camp press call including TV cameras and national Welsh radio.
Great Britain National Squad Optimist Coach, Tom Hayes, led the training camp. He said: "We won't be back in Pwllheli now until the Europeans but lots of information was imparted and learned about the venue and there was great team bonding. Our first day on water saw 10-14 knots, sunshine and waves, 'champagne' sailing conditions to do lots of speed work and starting practice.
"The next day we were joined today by GBR Head Coach, Alan Williams, who went through a venue guide with the sailors and on day three, another great day, the sailors learned about the land effect and the wind shifts. They also had a tour of the new Plas Heli building. It's been a great camp and we're already looking forward to getting back here for the main event."
Jamie, 12, said: "It means a lot to be selected for the Europeans, I'm very happy. This is my biggest achievement to date since being selected for the British Optimist National Squad and I'm just going to see how the event goes."
The first Optimist European Championship was held in 1983, and the only other time it has been held on UK waters was in Belfast in 1993. For more details about the Magic Marine 2015 Optimist European Championships visit www.optimisteuros2015.com, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/optimisteuros2015 or follow us on Twitter @optimisteuros15