Youth World Championships win still hasn't sunk in, says Watson
by Will Carson 22 Jul 2018 16:45 BST
14-21 July 2018
Islay Watson © Jen Edney / World Sailing
Scottish windsurfer Islay Watson has revealed that she didn't believe she had won the Youth World Championships until people started congratulating her on her return to shore.
The 18-year-old from Aviemore went into the penultimate day of racing at the five-day regatta in Corpus Christi, Texas, in third overall, just a handful of points behind the top two sailors.
But a trio of victories saw her rocket into an unassailable lead at the top of the table in the girls' RS:X fleet, guaranteeing her the overall win no matter what happened in the regatta's final race.
Watson said she had been so focused on simply clawing back some points on her rivals so she would be in with a chance of overhauling them on the last day that she hadn't realised the implications of her string of wins.
Her coach Connor Bainbridge, who'd watched the racing from a support boat, broke the news of her win to her after racing – but it was only when she got back to shore that it started to sink in.
Two broadcast interviews with Watson can be downloaded here
"At the end of the penultimate day I came up to our support boat and Connor told me I'd won, but I didn't believe him so I just sailed back in," Watson said.
"I hadn't done the maths at all before going out, and it hadn't even occurred to me that I could win it on the penultimate day.
"When I got back to the shore people kept coming up to me and congratulating me. When I realised what had happened I was so excited!"
Watson's first phone call was to her parents and sister Erin – the RS:X youth national champion – back at home in Aviemore.
"My parents were straight on the phone and they were extremely excited, as was my sister Erin," Watson added. "In fact she was probably more excited than me!"
The Youth World Championships is considered the pinnacle of youth racing, and competitors often go on to launch Olympic campaigns.
Some of Great Britain's best known sailors – including Sir Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy and – were Youth Worlds medallists.
Watson now joins that exclusive band of athletes.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm feeling pretty good right now!" she added. "It was a pretty amazing week - totally different to anything I'd done before, and I learned so much just from being there."
Despite only arriving back home today, Watson only has a few days to rest before taking on her next challenge – the world championships for the Techno Plus windsurfer class.
"I've got a pretty busy summer still ahead of me," she said. "I'm heading home for a week then going to Latvia for the Techno Plus worlds then straight from there to Poland for the Europeans. It's going to be non-stop for a little longer yet."
Watson's gold was followed up by Hampshire pair Vita Heathcote and Milly Boyle, who won silver in the girls' 420 class.
Fellow Scottish windsurfer Isaac Lines, the boys' RS:X national champion, finished 11th overall at the Youth Worlds while Fife's Ewan Wilson, sailing the 29er dinghy, came home in ninth.
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