Magic Marine Solo class competition winners
by Will Loy 12 May 2018 14:29 BST
Errol Edwards sailing his new Winder Solo © Errol Edwards
Photo Competition winner Ellie Cumpsty
Sailing has always been a huge part of my day to day life. My father encouraged me to sail from a young age and taught me most of what I know. The most important lesson being that sailing is the best sport you can be involved in. Toppers were the most popular junior boat at Chew Valley Sailing Club, my home club. There were also a fair few optibats floating around, however I was banned from them after traumatising the responsible club member because I found swimming under the cavern an upside down Opti makes more fun than the sailing of it!
In my early sailing career I found the swimming aspect of sailing more exciting than the rest. This led to a countless number of rescue missions from safety boats around the country as I followed my older brother around the circuit, I think my parents breathed a sigh of relief when I decided sailing was better. One of my earliest racing memories is following around my older brother up the first beat at a Topper nationwide and finding myself in fourth place to the windward mark. There were many surprise faces, mine included and let’s just say I did not finish the race fourth.
I moved through the RYA system, Topper Zone Squad from 2007-2009, then straight into the national Squad. The best thing about the squads were the friends we made and some of them I still have to this day, nearly ten years later. Squads rapidly increase your rates of learning and they push me to dream big and work hard. I became Topper female World Champion in 2012 and was gutted not to win the event overall because that was my ambition. I had already transitioned into Laser 4.7s but I wanted to go back for unfinished business, my younger sister was going so I just tagged on with her. I competed for a year in 4.7s and then progressed into the Laser Radials, managing to get into the youth squad in 2011. I also trained alongside the transitional squad as an additional bonus. This gave me a lot of exposure to different coaches.
Time on the water was everything to me, I used to sit at school, willing the weekends to come faster, so I could sail and compete again. I found the biggest change moving from junior to youth classes was the location for sailing competitions. I was a lake sailor from Chew Valley but suddenly we were just competing at coastal locations with rolling waves and strong tides. You could say I was out of my depth initially but I slowly learnt a different style of sailing to match. I won the Youth Nationals twice in the Radial and finished fourth at the Laser Radial Youth Europeans in 2014 and 6th at the under 21 Worlds 2016. I then went full time sailing in the British Sailing Team in my Radial and competed in the senior fleet until Oct 2017 where I joined the Keelboat Academy.
I have now made my own all female Etchells youth team and have qualified for a youth boat for the season based in Cowes. Our key event for the season will be the Europeans and we are currently looking for sponsorship. I am also competing with Ran’s new boat in the Fast 40 fleet which I am learning a lot from as it is a big change from dinghy sailing. I have applied for University starting in Sep 2018 so I am looking forward to maximising my time on the water. I am currently trying to learn as much as I can from all the different sailing I am doing. Every time I sail something new, I feel like I come away with more questions than answers but the progress is very rewarding. I recently sailed a Solo for the first time and plan to do the Nationals this year. The boat is great and I am really looking forward to racing dinghies again.
Congratulations Ellie, great to see a female youth sailor in the Solo and looking comfortable, even in a force 5! Ellie receives a £50 Magic Marine voucher and we look forward to seeing her on the water at the Magic Marine UK Championship July 21-27 at Hayling Island.
Congratulations also to Errol Edwards who not only took the photos of Ellie at Chew Valley but is lending his brand new Winder Solo to her for the big event. Errol collects a £50 Magic Marine Voucher for being such a generous NSCA member, that’s the spirit.
Thanks to Magic Marine for their continued support of the National Solo.