Rachel Jefferies clinches OnBoard fleet win at Parkstone Youth Week
Parkstone youth week attracts 200 youngsters sailing.
Rachel Jeffries, aged 11, was the clear winner in the OnBoard Fleet at Parkstone Youth Week last week when she saw off the rest of the competition in the single handed Pico dinghy.
Rachel was one of a number of kids who have been pursuing the Royal Yachting Association’s OnBoard scheme, which aims to give children from every walk of life a chance to learn to sail and windsurf. Each of the competitors in the Pico class have been taking part in training and racing throughout this season and Parkstone Youth Week was the culmination of their efforts and a chance to show their skills.
The week as a whole attracted more than 200 kids in a variety of classes, all of whom enjoyed the social activities that went alongside it. But the racing was both fun and serious at the same time, and the OnBoard Pico class took part in three races each day between 1st and 6th August.
For the first few days the kids were given a chance to limber up their knowledge of starting procedures and racing rules but by the end of the series, they were keenly attacking the course, using their skills and knowledge, and also facing penalties if they broke the rules.
On the podium beside Rachel was George Gibbs in second place and Rachel’s brother Alex in third. All three attend schools in the local area.
Rachel commented on her victory “It’s been absolutely excellent. It’s amazing. I’ve never won anything before!”
George’s enthusiasm has got him booking onto a sailing course this week to further improve his skills.
Event organiser Pip Woods of Rockley Watersports commented “It’s great to see these kids progressing the way they did in the six days from Sunday to Friday. It was just brilliant to watch them fill with enthusiasm. Each one of them is now determined to take their sailing further and become members of the Parkstone Yacht Club.”
A great example of the progression that the kids make through OnBoard is that of Jacob Williams who won the OnBoard fleet in last year’s Parkstone Youth Week. Jacob is now one of four OnBoard sailors who qualified for a free OnBoard membership of the Parkstone Yacht club and the use of a club boat for a year. He competes in the Topper Silver Fleet.
Pip Woods adds “I’m very hopeful that Rachel will now be joining the Club and we will be welcoming her to the Topper Silver Fleet.”.
Run by the RYA, OnBoard is a grass roots programme which introduces sailing and windsurfing to young people aged 8 to 18, through schools, youth groups and training centres. Over a ten year period OnBoard aims to introduce a minimum of 500,000 children to sailing and windsurfing in the UK, converting over 10% of them into regular participants. So far it’s nicely on track.
For more information about how to get involved in sailing visit the RYA’s website www.rya.org.uk or the OnBoard website www.ruob.co.uk.