470 sailors pick up the prestigious Marlow Ropes Award 

Marlow Ropes Award goes to 470 sailors Anna Burnett and Flora Stewart

Skandia Team GBR Transitional Squad sailors Anna Burnett and Flora Stewart have received an additional boost to their flourishing 470 campaign by being awarded with the prestigious Marlow Ropes Award.  

The Marlow Ropes Award was introduced in 2002 with the aim of rewarding Britain’s most promising young sailors for their determination, focus and talent.   T

he young sailors who are both from Southampton have had an impressive run of results on the summer circuit including a silver medal at the Delta Lloyd 470 Junior World Championships, Medemblik, Netherlands.  

The young sailors have indicated their potential for future success and being a part of Skandia Team GBR provides them both with an array of world class training resources used by Britain’s Olympic gold medal winning sailors – a real stepping stone to succeeding at the highest level.  

“The season so far has gone very well with us winning a silver medal at the Delta Lloyd 470 Junior World Championships in Medemblik. It was a great week where we sailed really well – winning a silver medal was a great result for us,” said Burnett.  

“We then had another good event at the 470 Junior Europeans however we missed out on the medal race so didn’t win a medal – but it was still a great regatta where we were able to take a lot of positives for future events.”  

“Our partnership together in the 470 class is going really well – we have been together for almost four years now and we seem to be getting stronger and stronger at each event which is vital for our development.”  

The 470 duo are now entering an intense period of training over the winter months and will be looking to build upon their success which they had over the summer.  

Stewart added: “We are delighted to be given the award and believe it is down to out performances over the summer period, especially at the Junior Worlds where we won silver as it was an excellent achievement.”  

The Marlow award entitles the 470 girls to a year’s supply of free Marlow rope, a financial boost which previous winners, double World 470 champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis and 2008 Olympic Yngling gold medallist Pippa Wilson, have also benefitted from.  

Stewart went on to say: “To be given a year’s supply of Marlow Rope is a great opportunity for us as it allows us to focus on our sailing and not worry about the equipment or the boat. I’m sure it will benefit our overall performance and results at future regattas”  

“The 470 is a technical boat and there is a lot needed to get the boat performing at its best, so to be able to get the boat out with the best possible rope available from Marlow will really help us. We will not have to worry about kit failure and in turn will enable us to perform at our best throughout the season,” concluded Burnett.   

Barrie Edgington, Skandia Team GBR Development Squad Manager, commented: “Anna and Flora have made a great start to their 470 campaign with a stand out result and proved they have the determination to succeed.    

“Making the leap in to an Olympic Class boat always throws up big challenges for young sailors and not least in the area of equipment. The Marlow Ropes Award will certainly make a big difference to them in this regard and it is great to see the generous support of Marlow Ropes going towards another deserving team.”  

As well as supporting up-and-coming sailors, Marlow Ropes are also the official supplier and exclusive team ropes partner to Skandia Team GBR thanks to its industry-renowned reputation for producing products tried, tested and trusted in the world’s harshest environments.  

Paul Honess, Leisure Marine Sales Director, said: “It’s fantastic to be involved with Skandia Team GBR and it is now been our 12th year of supplying the British Sailing Team with top quality rope.  

“We find that working with the team and the sailors such as Anna and Flora is vital as the feedback we receive is influential in developing and improving our products at Marlow.”  

For all the latest news on Skandia Team GBR visit www.skandiateamgbr.com