Summer in the British International 420 fleet - The secret to getting ahead, is getting started

British team at the Junior European Championships © GBR 420 Team

The secret to getting ahead, is getting started - a summer of perspiration and inspiration in the 420 fleet, mostly perspiration.

The middle of the Olympic sailing regatta feels like the right time to consider where those great sailors originate, the Spanish medallist Diego Botin, 49er competed in a 420 as a youth sailor. We are also all eagerly following Vita Heathcote, who has not long graduated from the 420 into the 470.

The British International 420 team are all back in the UK now and preparing for the British National Championships later this month, having set their sights on greatness further into their sailing careers. Like many of us they are avidly following the racing in Marseille and picking up tips for improving their own medal chances.

A duo that will no doubt be watching closely are our U17 mixed pair of Joe Jones and Hennie Burlton. At the recent Junior European Championships hosted by Greece in Thessaloniki, our young sailors faced the hottest regatta of their careers. Not just in terms of competition but weather, with the temperature rarely dipping below 35c there was little respite even on the racecourse.

For the U17 teams, there were six qualifying races and a final series of six races split over gold and silver fleets. The inclusion of Jones/Burlton in the former was never in doubt after an opening series that included three race wins and saw them take a commanding lead. They opened their final series with two more wins, taking them to five wins from eight races and a substantial points gap. The last few races were cruel, with unpredictable shifts and lighter conditions but they held those gold bibs going into the last race.

We can only imagine their disappointment to finish the regatta in fourth overall, probably the toughest place to finish an international regatta. However, like so many Olympic greats a fourth very often leads to a podium soon after. This performance in the 420, for the young duo was the best position the British Youth Sailing team has seen in the U17s for a very long time.

Elsewhere in the U19 fleet, all the teams - female, male and mixed - competed in the same racing. Our highest placed team was George/Cawthorne who put together a mixed series but did bag two second places, followed by Fletcher/Sparkes in 30th. The female-duo of Potter/Nieuwland, who also qualified in gold fleet, took 38th but did clinch a win in the qualifying series.

It isn't just the international waters that call to our skilled 420 sailors, the stunning Camel Estuary recently hosted the Fireball National Championships and saw plenty of ex-420 sailors competing. Dave Wade (ok stretching the timeline a bit there!) took third, but more recent 420 sailors Ollie Meadowcroft in fifth, Oliver Rayner in eleventh and William Bailey nineteenth. In the more familiar waters of Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay Ollie Meadowcroft took second in the Scorpion National Championships and Joe Warwicker took third, the latter with an impressive three race wins. The Rayner brothers also competed, along with new convert to 420 sailing Sam Mason.

With time on their hands many of our sailors are now heading off the RS200 nationals with more than twenty competitors from current or recent 420 teams taking part. We look forward to seeing how they fare, some have been propelled directly to the gold fleet despite never competing in an RS200 before, testament to the level of skills developed sailing in the 420.

The next British 420 event is the Selden National Championships in Dale YC, with training the day before. We still have space, and welcome helms / crews without partners and / or boats. All details are on this page: gbr420.ourclubadmin.com/event/372 If you are looking to develop your sailing skills and get ahead of the competition, then get started in a 420!

Hennie Burlton and Joe Jones at the Junior European Championships - photo © GBR 420 Team