A tough Tavira test for the British Youth Sailing Team
The 2014 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships come to a close in Tavira, Portugal.
The
British Youth Sailing Team can leave Tavira with their heads held high as the
2014 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships came to a close on Friday (18 July)
after a tough week of racing at the Portuguese venue.
With
light variable winds, postponements and long delays across the five days of
racing, Britain’s young racing talents found the light Mediterranean style
conditions challenging as they battled it out in five classes across eight
events against 67 competing nations.
And
although the British team left the 44th edition of the prestigious
event empty-handed this time around, Team Coach Oli Woodcock maintains his team
of twelve have gained an invaluable experience from competing at the world’s
premier youth sail racing event.
“It
has been a really tough week of racing out here in Tavira. We had a light sea
breeze, which on most days didn’t fill in until late in the afternoon, which
meant the sailors had to deal with long postponements and racing late on in the
day. It is disappointing to leave Tavira without any medals but each and every
sailor has given it their all this week and can walk away with their heads held
high. They have shown great professionalism all throughout the event, have dug
deep in some extremely challenging conditions and have stuck to their processes
even when things weren’t going their way.”
“Many
of our sailors who we had here this week would have been in with shot at a
podium finish on a different week here in Tavira - we were just extremely
unlucky with a light wind regatta. Our sailors, unfortunately, are
inexperienced in these types of light Mediterranean style conditions as we just
don’t get the opportunity to race and train in them when back home in the UK.
“Saying that, it has been a great experience for them to learn as much as
possible from this type of regatta and to be up against the best sailors from
around the world who are masters of light wind sailing,” explained Woodcock.
“Some
team members still have their class World Championships to come which I’m sure
they will all be fired up for after such a frustrating regatta here this week.
It is now a great chance for the sailors to identify their weaknesses and to
use this regatta as a springboard for other major events this summer.”
Imogen
Sills was the highest placed Brit finishing fifth overall in the girls RS:X
windsurfing event. After an impressive opening day to the regatta, with her
first international race win on the RS:X, the 17-year-old was disappointed not
to have finished higher up the leaderboard on what was her first and last
attempt at an ISAF Youth Worlds medal.
“I’m
happy with the process goals but am slightly disappointed with my overall
result – I kind of wish I could have held onto my lead from day one but it just
wasn’t meant to be,” said Sills.
“Today
was a good day and I really enjoyed the breeze that we had. I am really happy
that I managed to move up a place today from sixth to fifth. I proved today and
on the first day that I am one of the fastest out on the race track when the
breeze is up which is positive I guess. I have trained all winter in the big
breeze so to know that I performed well in the conditions I have trained in is
a good thing to take away.”
29er
sailors Owen Bowerman and Morgan Peach bowed out in style, recording their
first race win of regatta in the final race of the series. The pair finished
seventh overall, with Peach admitting it was the perfect way to end what has
been a tricky week of racing.
“Winning
that last race today was absolutely amazing for us. It has been a really tough
week of racing with such a competitive 29er fleet so to finish on a high was
just great! We had two days of racing where we could have and should have done
a lot better, but we kept our heads high, kept plugging away at the process
goals and managed to get a good result in the end.”
“The
breeze started to build towards the end of today which is why I think we did so
well and which is why I think a lot of other GBR boats had a good final day, we
love the wind so it was a shame it arrived so late on in the regatta,” said the
29er crew from Torquay.
Tim
Riley-James Taylor and Sarah Norbury-Mari Davis finished their regattas off in
10th position overall in the girls and boys double handed 420 class.
Riley, who was one of two ISAF Youth Worlds veterans for the British team, was
pleased to have finished seven places higher than his 2013 result.
Riley
said: “You always wish you can do slightly better and you always want to be in
contention for a medal but when you come out here and you see how good some of
these guys really are you have to sort of readjust your aims. For us we
readjusted to aim for a top ten and we managed that today so we are really
happy, and of course it’s a great for me to be able to improve on my result
from last year’s regatta, especially in a fleet which was a lot more competitive
this time around.”
15-year-old
Jamie Calder, the youngest member of the British Youth Sailing Team, gave a
good account of himself in the 57 strong Laser Radial fleet. Making his Youth
Worlds debut, the young Scot posted two top five finishes across the nine race
series to finish 18th overall. Ellie Cumpsty finished 13th
in the girls Radial event, while Robert York finished 11th in the
boys RS:X windsurfing event.
On
his Youth Worlds debut, Calder said: “The ISAF Youth Worlds is a fantastic event
and it has been a great experience to be here competing and to be a part of the
British team. It has been everything and more than I expected it to be and it
has been a great honour to represent Great Britain at such a prestigious
event.”
2013
ISAF Youth Worlds bronze medallist Oli Greber was unable to repeat his success
from Limassol, Cyprus. Competing with crew Jess Eales in the mixed multihull
event, the pair finished 11th.
Mark
Nicholls, RYA Youth Racing Manager, commented: “The reality is that most of the
team have sailed pretty well and done about as well can be expected, it’s just
that they are not skilled enough at the current time in the type of conditions
we have experienced in Tavira. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, they have all
given it everything and should be proud of their efforts.”
For the latest news and information from the
British camp follow the team on Facebook or
on Twitter @RYAyouthracing.
For further information on the 2014 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships and
the full list of results visit the event website.