British youngsters hit stride at Youth World Championships
by Will Carson, RYA 18 Jul 2018 12:43 BST
14-21 July 2018
Ewan Wilson and Finley Armstrong - Day 2 - Youth World Championships © Jen Edney / World Sailing
The fourteen young athletes representing Great Britain at the 2018 Youth World Championships started to hit their stride on day two, notching up a string of top results.
Lymington pair Vita Heathcote and Milly Boyle continued their assault on the girls' 420 leaderboard, winning the opening race and following it up with a sixth.
The scores put them firmly in second place going into the third day of racing in Corpus Christi, Texas, with just four points splitting them from leaders and reigning youth world champs Carmen and Emma Cowles of the USA.
"The week's going pretty well so far," said Boyle, 17. "We've had some pretty solid results but we've still got a few mistakes to iron out. I feel like we're adapting well to the conditions, so let's see how the rest of the week goes."
Heathcote added: "It's been great racing so far and we've managed to hold onto the second-placed bib. We're really enjoying it."
Boys' 420 duo Drew Wright and Rhys Lewis bounced back from a tough opening day to claim their first podium position – a third – then added to it with a 12th.
They have moved up to 13th overall in the 23-strong fleet.
"We had a much better day than the opening day so we've clawed a few places back on the leaderboard," said Lewis, from Penarth in Wales.
Lewis, from Much Wenlock in Shropshire, added: "It was pretty fruity downwind today but we managed to find a lot more speed."
Aviemore's Islay Watson remains in medal contention despite slipping to third place in the girls' RS:X fleet while Isaac Lines, from Dunoon, sits tenth in the boys' fleet.
Fife's Ewan Wilson and crew Fin Armstrong from Totnes were disqualified from day two's boys' 29er opener for being over the line at the start, but came back with a 4-6 to remain tenth overall.
In the girls' 29er, Freya Black and Millie Aldridge also sit tenth thanks to a trio of top ten finishes.
A third and an eighth for Durley's Matilda Nicholls moves her up to seventh overall in the girls' Laser Radial, while in the 58-boat boys' Laser Radial, the largest fleet at the regatta, Bishops Waltham's Jake Bowhay remains just outside the top third in 23rd.
William Smith and Abigail Clarke suffered the same fate as Wilson and Armstrong in the first Nacra 15 race of the day, and sit 19th in the 24-boat fleet going into day three.
Racing runs until Friday. Full results can be found here
The British Youth Sailing Team for the 2018 Youth Sailing World Championships:
420
Girls: Vita Heathcote (16) and Milly Boyle (17) – Royal Lymington Yacht Club
Boys: Rhys Lewis (16) and Drew Wright (16) – Cardiff Bay Yacht Club
29er
Girls: Freya Black (16) and Millie Aldridge (17) – Parkstone Sailing Club
Boys: Ewan Wilson (14 – Wormit Boating Club) and Finley Armstrong (16 – Royal Torbay Yacht Club)
Laser Radial
Girls: Matilda Nicholls (16) – Royal Lymington Yacht Club
Boys: Jake Bowhay (17) – Stokes Bay Sailing Club
RS:X
Girls: Islay Watson (17) – Loch Insh
Boys: Isaac Lines (18) – Toward Sailing Club
Nacra 15
William Smith (16) and Abigail Clarke (17) - Grafham Water Sailing Club