BKA sailors have spring in their step after early season events

British Keelboat Academy enjoy three weekends of racing out on the Solent

Britain’s aspiring young keelboat racing talents have enjoyed a mix of conditions and results this spring, as sailors from the British Keelboat Academy (BKA) blew off the winter cobwebs in what was their first competitive outing of 2014.

The 13 sailors, aged between 18-24 who were selected to join the BKA Elite Squad in January, kicked off their racing season at the opening weekend of the Warsash Spring Championships (12 -13 April), followed by the RORC Easter Championships (18-20 April), with the Squad concluding three consecutive weekends of racing out on the Solent at the Warsash Spring Championship last weekend (26-27 April).  

Competing on board Farr 45 ‘Kolga’ in IRC One, the regattas allowed the BKA sailors the opportunity to bring together all of their winter training, which included technical training into areas including rules, meteorology and boat maintenance, as well as acting as the perfect opportunity to receive on the water coaching as the young keelboat sailors look to settle into their roles ahead of the key events this summer.  

“Now three major events into our competitive season we are starting to reach more of our potential as a team, and our routines and training sessions are starting to pay dividend,” said ‘Kolga’ Bowman Jack Trigger.  

“We have had varied conditions over these events, with a reasonably light and shifty Spring Championships 1, mixed conditions for the RORC Easter Challenge and more breeze on for Spring Championships 2. Whilst the conditions haven’t always been perfect for us to perform well under IRC, they have been excellent for us as a team, knowing that we can perform in all conditions is an important confidence boost going into the more important events of our season.”  

After an intense two weekend training programme at the UKSA Headquarters in Cowes, Isle of Wight, in the build up to these three Solent based regattas, the Oxford University student who is now in his second year of the BKA, confirms that these three events have provided the perfect platform for the BKA Squad to progress.  

“In terms of the bow team as a unit, our progression has reached a phase where we are no longer making mistakes and instead speeding everything up, despite the testing conditions this weekend.  All the choreography is well in place and we have a solid team dynamic, so there is more confidence in our manoeuvres, allowing the guys at the back more freedom over the course.”  

Trigger continued: “From this front of the boat perspective, Spring Championships 2 came with more challenging conditions than we had yet experienced in the season, so it was important to stay on top of our game.  We had a few high pressure situations to deal with, especially on Saturday when the breeze was up, but were able to stay calm and keep everything under control - limiting distance lost on the race course and any potential damage.  This allowed the rest of the team to focus on the bigger picture when things weren’t going to plan, including the all-important safety aspect which of course can have big implications on performance.  

With a fifth at the RORC Easter Challenge and seventh place overall at the Warsash Spring Championships, the BKA sailor is confident that the team now have what it takes to deliver at this summer’s key regattas.  

“Overall we have had a fairly intense few weeks of training and racing, but I feel we can only bring positives from this - from an individual level to a team level everyone on the boat is stepping up to the mark, both on the water and off. 

“We now start making preparations for the more important events where we are aiming to peak in terms of performance, including the Vice Admirals Cup which we are defending in a fortnight. Hopefully these are all good indicators that we are on the right track and our hard work will start paying off.”  

For further information on the Warsash Spring Championships and for full results visit http://www.rorc.org/     

For further information on the RORC Easter Challenge and for full results visit http://www.warsashspringseries.org.uk/

For more information about the British Keelboat Academy visit  www.britishkeelboatacademy.org, or follow the BKA on Facebook or on Twitter (@tweetbka).