Keeping it simple as the final day dawns 

Two races for all classes on second day of RYA ISAF Youth Worlds selector

The second day of the RYA ISAF Youth Worlds Selection Event (29-31 August), held at Hayling Island Sailing Club, was once again delayed by light winds.

This weekend sailors are on the hunt for a spot at the ISAF Youth World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia (27 December – 3 January).This is the second stage of the selection process, the first being the RYA Youth National Championships held at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy back in April.

Light winds delayed racing for all classes, the 420 and Laser Radial fleets launched first completing one race before heading back ashore, they launched again at 1600 to complete their second race of the day. The RS:X windsurfers completed both races in the morning and the 29er classes launched in the late afternoon for their two races.

During the lunch time delay the Protest Committee were busy, a number of boats were protested by the Race Committee for a breach of Sailing Instruction 24.1 - communicating with support boats - zero percent penalties were given to all sailors involved in the incident.

Girls’ 420 sailors Isabel Davies and Gemma Keers (Itchenor) were one of the crews involved, however were thankful as no scoring penalties were applied: “A group of us were protested for communicating with a rib while having lunch, it’s because we were having lunch on our food rib and apparently it wasn’t ok,” said Davies.

“It was really stressful, there was a risk that we could get disqualified but luckily we didn’t which was worrying because if we did get disqualified, it would have messed up our overall results, but luckily it was ok. The tide was really strong and we were worried we were going to be swept away so we were holding on.

“We weren’t talking about sailing and didn’t get any advantage and we won’t do it again,” concluded Davies.

On the water, Davies and Keers won the final race and are on their way to securing a spot at the ISAF Youth Worlds, a goal of theirs, Keers explains, they have had all summer: “Our aim this year was to do really well and qualify for Malaysia, it will be a really fun event to go to and it sounds as though it would be really good quality racing if we did go. For now we’re quite close with second but it is exciting to be in the lead.”

In second are Jenny Cropley (Royal Lymington) and Emma Baker (Weir Wood), just a point behind the leaders.

Max Clapp and Ross Banham (Royal Southern) are still leading the boys’ 420, adding a first and second to their results list today.

Karyna Manuel tops the girls’ Laser Radial class with a score line of 1, 1, 1, DNE, 1. She received a DNE (Disqualification Not Excludable), having not retired from the race after receiving a second rule 42 penalty on the water. A mistake, Manuel says, she will not make again: “I’m annoyed about that first one, it was a long day and I got a little confused, I will not do it again but I can’t do anything about it now.”

After the long break ashore, Manuel was back to winning form: “Coming in for lunch was hard; it was all about staying focused. Staying in racing mode can be hard, especially for me as I can be quite chatty sometimes but luckily I stayed in focus.”

Manuel leads ahead of Ellie Brown (Beaver SC) and Hanna Brant (Oxford SC) who are in second and third respectively.

In the boys' Laser Radial Milo Gill-Taylor (Spinnaker) and Jake Farren-Price (Royal Lymington) both sit on 27 points at the top of the leader board.

According to Gill-Taylor it wasn’t his best day, although he currently leads, winning the tie break: “The racing today was a bit annoying, I was making a few annoying mistakes. I rounded the windward mark in third but dropped to sixth, losing places on the reach, downwind and at a mark rounding.”

Looking to tomorrow, Gill-Taylor plans to do the same again: “I’m just going to try and sail my best just like I have all the other days.”

Dan Wilson (Chichester) moved into the lead in the boys’ RS:X scoring a first and a fourth today, a light wind day pushed Wilson to his limits he explains: “I’m a bit happier than yesterday but it was a tough day racing so I’m really knackered. You have to work hard the whole race against the tide so the work rate was really high.

“I had a bit of a disaster in the second race. I came out the wrong end of the line and went the wrong way but it was ok.”

Wilson sits on joint points with Andy Brown (Largs SC), James Hatcher (Bristol Corinthian YC) is only a couple behind in third, both sailors will be on Wilson’s mind as he heads out on the final day: “We are on joint points so racing will be kind of the same as the first day, just go in and try as hard as you can. It’s really tight, as soon as the discard falls I think the guy in third [Hatcher] will be just a point away. It’s going to be a ‘get clean air and race your own race’ kind of day."

Dan’s sister, Emma Wilson (Chichester) has won all five races in the girls’ RS:X and has a clear lead over the rest of the field and is happy with her position heading into the final day: “I’m pretty confident going into tomorrow, just need to keep things simple. It was so light and the last leg was almost 0 knots so it was really physical.

“Tomorrow I am just going keep on an eye on the girls, sail my own race and hope it is a bit windier.”

Wilson not only has her eyes set on a selection place but on the main event, the ISAF Youth Worlds: “I really want to win the ISAFs, that’s my main aim for the year so obviously this is a step in the right direction.”

The 29er classes headed out to Hayling Bay at 1600, in the boys’ 29er, Crispin Beaumont (Bartley SC) and Tom Darling (HISC) had a perfect day scoring double firsts.

They excelled in the 6-7 knots of wind and strong tides said Darling: “There were big bands of pressure across the course, I was flat wiring at times which was really nice. It was very tidal again, it was coming from two different directions, out right you had it on your nose as it was coming out the channel, out left you had it scooping you up, so if you played it right it was quite nice.”

As the final day approaches, Darling’s thoughts turn to the ISAF Selection spot: “We have been thinking about it all summer, this is our big event. We have had some really good results this year but this one is the one we really want to win. We are trying not to think about it yet though, there is still one more day to go tomorrow.”

Darling continued: “Me and Crispin both know that if we are sailing our best we deserve the spot, and we can go out and win it, we just need to keep doing what we’re doing and it will all fall into place.”

Phoebe Connellan (Rutland) and Sophie Otter (Grafham Water) continue to lead the girls’ 29er, Rebecca Lewis and Eve Townsend, who won the final race today, are just one point behind in second.

Racing is scheduled to start at 10.25 on the 31 August.

You can follow the event and see the full results on the website, British Youth Sailing Team Facebook and Twitter @RYAYouthRacing.