RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championships 2025 at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy
by British Keelboat Sailing 1 Jul 21:04 BST
28-29 June 2025
RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championships 2025 - Winning team (l-r) Terry Hacker, Isabel Leetch, Gracie Joslin and Jamie Tylecote © British Keelboat Sailing
The 2025 RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championships saw nine teams duelling for supremacy in glamour conditions at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy.
Close racing made for hot competition to match the latest heatwave as young teams from across the country competed for the overall and under-19 titles (28-29 June).
Saturday saw a perfect start to proceedings with 15-18 knots of stable breeze for a full round robin aboard British Keelboat Sailing's fleet of Elliott 6Ms.
Jamie Tylecote and his team from Rutland Sailing Club set the pace and won all eight of their matches to lead overnight. Defending champion Fred Salter from Gurnard SC was hot on their heels with seven wins, with the Southampton University teams of Jack Woolterton and Daniel Corbett in third and fourth respectively.
Young guns
Tougher conditions on the Sunday with big shifts and variable winds made it tricky for the race committee of Nicole Ames and Frankie Upton but after a slow start waiting for the breeze to fill in, there was enough to complete a 5th to 9th round robin.
This saw Alex Vollmer, aged 16, and his young team from Oxford Sailing Club - Daniel Larsen (also 16) and Rachel Elms and Adam Larsen (both 14) - rise up the rankings to become U19 champions at their first ever match racing event.
Alex said: "Overall I really enjoyed the weekend which was run by a superb team of people, special thanks to the umpires and race committee. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of learning and trying to improve, especially as we as a team are new to the concept of match racing with this being our first event. I think the amazing crew I had ultimately got us the title and the light winds on day 2 definitely helped us as we are a lighter crew. I think my crew and our teamwork was the key factor which allowed us to clinch the title in some very tight racing."
Semi finals
Both semi-finals were settled 2-0 with Tylecote beating Corbett, and Salter winning over Woolterton. In the petit final, Woolterton then claimed victory 2-0 over Corbett for third overall.
An epic final between the teams of Tylecote and Salter then went to five matches.
This competitive pair have a history of pushing each other hard on the racecourse, including at last year's RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championship final, which likewise went to five races, with the overall title on that occasion taken by Salter.
For the 2025 edition, the wind died during the third race on the last few meters and the race committee had to wait for the wind to reappear from a different direction to get racing going again, with the start sequence of the final match making it just before the 4pm deadline.
Tylecote took first blood, with Salter making a decisive comeback with two wins. Tylecote with his team of Terry Hacker, Isabel Leetch and Gracie Joslin then finished the championship in style with two bullets for the overall title.
"We had a great time the whole weekend," said winning skipper Tylecote, aged 20. Asked about the team's winning formula, he added: "We felt being able to adapt quickly to the changing winds between the fog and the sun was key to our success."
RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championship 2025 Results
Take part
Summing up, Jess Beecher, Keelboat Development & Universities Officer, said: "It was a great weekend of sailing across a mix of condition which saw a full schedule of racing completed. Congratulations to Jamie Tylecote's team on claiming the overall title and to Alex Vollmer and his crew, who were amazing and despite being the youngest team won the Under-19 trophy.
"As ever a big thank you to our sponsor Harken for continuing to support this annual event, and to our race team and officials and all the volunteers who help to make these events happen."
Entries are now open for the next two events in the 2025 RYA National Match Racing Series, with teams invited to #rockupandrace at WPNSA for the Marlow Ropes Women's Championship over the weekend of 13-14 September, and for Qualifier 6, 27-28 September.
The top teams from each event in the series will be invited to a grand final for the RYA National Match Racing Championship title at London's Queen Mary SC in October 2025.
For all the information you need and entry links visit RYA Match Racing.