Final call to enter the 2011 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships 

Sailors have only one week remaining to enter this year’s 2011 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships

Sailors from across the country have only one week remaining to enter this year’s 2011 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships, as the final deadline for entries is Friday 16th September.  

The 2011 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships will welcome in excess of 1,000 young sailors across nine different venues throughout the United Kingdom on the weekend of the 24-25 September.  

With Volvo continuing their support of all nine events for the third year running, the Championships traditionally mark the end of the Junior racing season and the start of a hard winter’s training.  

The event is the RYA Regional Championship for each Zone and is aimed at sailors in local clubs under the age of 16 who are racing in the RYA pathway classes. It is a great first-time event for club sailors, giving them the opportunity to get a real feel of a Championship atmosphere.  

The Championships are also a key event for any young sailor wishing to be selected for the RYA Zone and Home Country squads and provide the stars of the future with the perfect opportunity to test their racing skills in a fiercely competitive environment.  

Each one of the nine venues used are renowned for staging major events and will provide the Junior sailors with the perfect setting to develop their sailing skills and racing ability whilst under the watchful eye of the RYA High Performance Managers and coaches. Racing takes place across the nine RYA-supported Junior dinghy and windsurfing classes including the Mirror, Optimist, Topper, RS Feva, Cadets and the windsurfers on the Bic Techno using the open 4.5, and 5.8 rigs, and the Techno 6.8’s and Techno 7.8’s – classes vary according to each venue.

For the first time, three of the Zones (Restronguet, Grafham, Derwent Reservoir) and all Home Counties Championships will offer ‘novice’ regatta fleets in Toppers and Optimists. This is an event for sailors to set themselves an end-of-year goal after training and racing during the summer months. It will give young sailors a good learning experience to help start them along the pathway to success.

Competitors are urged to submit their entries online at www.ryaracingevents.org.uk before Friday 16th September - due to safety considerations and the size and complexity of the event, entries after this date cannot be accepted. RYA organisers are urging athletes to confirm their attendance and submit their on-line entry promptly to avoid disappointment.  

In addition to the RYA High Performance Managers, sailors will have the chance to showcase their talents in front of Skandia Team GBR and Team Volvo for Life sailors. 470 sailor Saskia Clark and Elliot 6.0m sailor Lucy Macgregor will be visiting the South Zone, top British RS:X Windsurfer Nick Dempsey will be at the East Zone, Paralympian Helena Lucas will be appearing at the South East Zone and the West Zone will welcome Lucy’s fellow Match Racer, Kate Macgregor.  

The Skandia Team GBR and Team Volvo for Life sailors will meet the youngsters and chat about their sailing career, from club level to first regional event and how they progressed to elite level.

The 2011 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Countries Championships will be staged at the following venues:

The RYA Volvo South Zone Championships – Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, Dorset.

The RYA Volvo South West Zone Championships -Restronguet Sailing Club, Cornwall.

The RYA Volvo South East Zone Championships – Bewl Valley Sailing Club, Kent.

The RYA Volvo East Zone Championships– Grafham Sailing Club, Cambridgeshire.

The RYA Volvo West  Zone Championships– Blithfield Sailing Club, Staffordshire.

The RYA Volvo North Zone Championships – Derwent Reservoir, County Durham.

Volvo Welsh Youth & Junior Championships  – Pwllheli Sailing Club, Gwynedd.  

RYA Scotland Volvo Youth and Junior Championships – Largs Sailing Club, Largs.

RYANI Volvo Youth Championships in association with McCready Sailboats – Strangford Lough Yacht Club, Co. Down.

All sailors wishing to be considered for a National Junior Squad OR a Zone Squad place are requested to complete an online application form. This can be found at www.ryaracingevents.org.uk by following the links to Junior Squad applications.