Volvo RYA Southeast Youth Champs at Bewl Valley Sailing Club

175 craft and 201 young sailors from 30 clubs competed in the RYA Volvo South East Zone Youth Championships, hosted by Bewl Valley Sailing Club over the weekend of July 7th and 8th. This was the biggest entry that this annual event has ever seen – and the largest of any of the RYA six zone championships. 21 different classes of dinghy and windsurfers sailed 7 races over the two days, with 5 to count. This was one of 3 qualifying events for Topper, Cadet, Optimist and Windsurfing Zone Squad selection, and mandatory.

The two day format proved very popular with both competitors and parents, and by splitting the classes into two fleets, Bewl was able to handle the very large numbers, both racing and on shore, without problem. Barbecue and disco entertainment on the Saturday evening were very welcome additions to the event.

Winds were very light to vanishing on the Saturday, but Sunday proved better, with force 2 to 3 winds funnelling up Bewl’s notorious valleys, challenging the young sailors with frequent and capricious shifts. The victors were those that combined good boat speed and read these conditions best.

Bewl Valley Race Officer Richard Kingsnorth ran trapezoid courses, which tested all points of sailing. He observed "There was a very high standard of boat handling, particularly among the Toppers and Optimists, but a lack of aggression on the start line, with very few recalls. Many failed to take advantage of pin end bias, always hugging the committee boat. The best starts were made by the handicap fleets."

Bruce Hebbert, RYA South East Zone High Performance Manager who organised the championships, observed "This has been a highly successful regatta. This event will help me to select and train the youngsters who will have the opportunity to go forward into the RYA Olympic squad. I also plan to introduce team racing into the zone, which will sharpen still further boat handling and team bonding." Ken Waller, RYA South East Chairman, complimented Bewl on their race management, confirming that Bewl was the ideal venue, being in the centre of the region, and large enough to manage the big fleets involved.

Prizes were presented by Debbie Pritchett of Volvo UK, who are sponsors of the event.

Toppers were the largest fleet, with 65 entries. Mark Heather (age 15) from Wilsonian - second last year - proved victorious in 2001, beating Sam Tozer (Papercourt) into 2nd , with Jonathan White (Pevensey Bay) into 3rd . Mark has done well this year, also winning the Southern Area Topper championships at Emsworth and the Kent Schools Splash Open.

The 40 strong Optimist class, was a girls’ monopoly, with Emily Wall (Age 14) from Weir Wood - also second last year - beating Sophie Ainsworth (Bewl Valley) and Chloe Martin (Bough Beech) to take the trophy. With Sophie only being 12, and Chloe only 11, the future looks very bright for this junior class! The 11-strong Laser Radial class was won by young James Royston of Bewl Valley – only 13 years old - with Andrew Mills from Queen Mary dominating the standard Laser fleet. Ben Ainsworth and Tom Heyward (Bewl Valley) took the 420 trophy in their first ever event in this class.

The fast handicap was won by sisters Clare and Helen Stubbs (Downs S.C.) sailing their RS200. Victor in the slow handicap was Andrew Brothwell from Bexhill in a Topaz Uno.

Overall Results:

More Information:

• Bewl Valley Sailing Club

Results generated and submitted using Sailwave - completely free Windows sailing scoring software