Derbyshire Youth Sailors Team Success

Article by Mike Haynes - Derbyshire Youth Sailing.

 

Members of Derbyshire Youth Sailing’s team racing squad, all aged under 16, have been selected to represent the National Schools Sailing Association at the RYA National Team Racing Championships at Grafham Water on the weekend of the 6th & 7th of November, following their success at this weekend’s National Schools Sailing Association Team Racing Championships in Worcestershire.

 

The team of Matt Rawson, Ally Britton and Amy Burns, who sailed to third place overall in the NSSA sail-offs will be joined by James Hadden, Kate Fox-Davies and Phill Bell, who also sailed at this weekend’s NSSA championship event, to sail double handed Feva dinghies at Grafham Water.

 

Derbyshire’s success in the NSSA Championship included the team of Phill Bell, Michael Robinson and Kathryn Bradley who were awarded the Lancashire Plate as the most improved team in the Championship and only just missed out on a place in the sail-offs.  All the sailing at the NSSA event is completed in single handed ‘Topper’ dinghies provided by the organisers, so that sailor’s skills and not the type of boat, is what counts.

 

Derbyshire Youth Sailing entered four teams in this years NSSA team sailing event held at Upton Warren Outdoor Education Centre near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire and the 32 teams from across the United Kingdom competed in a Wilson Swiss League style event, completing over 210 races in just two days.

 

The team racing format is a very exciting and highly tactical form of racing.  To win the event the sailors not only have to contend with sailing at close quarters with other boats but they have to work out their strategy as a team, almost by the second in the short format racing.  It is necessary to use key aspects of the Racing Rules of Sailing to force the opposition to sail more slowly around the simple set course and to achieve better overall placings than the opposing team.  The event is a wonderful spectacle and the action on the water is very intense.

 

Derbyshire Youth Sailing Team Racing Manager, Sally Hadden enthused “The level of competition keeps getting higher between these young sailors.  Derbyshire’s teams have done fantastically well and we are thrilled that our sailors have been selected to represent the NSSA at Grafham in November.”

 

Assistant Team Manager, Clive Robinson remarked “When you combine the aspects of skill required for boat control and racing tactically, these young sailors are amazing.  They have all had a fabulous time and enjoyed competing at this National level of Youth Sailing and to come away with such good results is very pleasing.  They all deserve congratulations.”