SWYSA sailors take top 8 places at Torbay Junior Regatta
by Nicholas James 23 Aug 2017 11:29 BST
19-22 August 2017
SWYSA sailors on their support RIB waiting for the wind at the RTYC Junior Regatta © Nicholas James
The eight top places at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club's Junior Single Handed Regatta all went to South West Youth Sailing Academy (SWYSA) sailors. Tera Sailor William James (10) came first closely followed by Topper sailors Miles Ripley (12) and Toby Bloomfield (13).
The SWYSA is a not for profit group of South West sailors from seven local clubs coming together to train throughout the winter in their Tera and Topper dinghies. The group has grown from 12 children in 2014 to over 50 sailors last winter where they have been coached by World champions and ex Olympians on inland and coastal venues. The group has beed fortunate to receive support from the sailing charity The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation (ASSF) which has helped expand the project.
Over four days of racing in Torbay with conditions of barely any wind to 20 knot gusts the sailors were certainly tested to their limits in the busy bay alongside the IRC yacht fleets racing nearby. Race officer Mike Currie set mainly windward leeward courses for the nine races of the regatta and the top eight who all sail out of Paignton Sailing Club took the conditions in their stride and dominated the fleet.
After celebrating their wins the sailors are now preparing for the RS Tera Nationals at WPNSA and the Goodacre Cup at Roadford reservoir on the Devon Cornwall border this weekend.