South and South West youngsters relish RYA British Youth Sailing Regional Junior Championships

An annual celebration of all that’s great about junior sailing.
06 Oct 21

An impressive 300 youngsters from the South and South West regions took to the water on the 25-26 September for the 2021 RYA British Youth Sailing (BYS) Regional Junior Championships, at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Dorset.

The event was among 11 British Youth Sailing regattas which took place across the country during September. With an emphasis on fun, high quality regional racing, the weekend catered for young sailors of all abilities - from those just starting out to seasoned racers.

Mirroring those from around the country, the South and SW weekend featured three fleets: a Championship Fleet for more experienced racers, a Coached Regatta Fleet for those wanting to get their first taste of racing, and an OnBoard Fleet for children who are new to the sport.

Duncan West, Regional Performance Manager for the South and South West, said: “The South and South West Regional Junior Championships is a fantastic opportunity to bring together youngsters for a fun weekend of sailing in a racing environment. Everyone had a great time - from the youngest newcomer taking part in the OnBoard Fleet through to the most experienced racer in the Championship Fleet.

“We were lucky with the weather and had perfect conditions on Sunday and we had really some really good racing. The youngsters were also delighted to meet, Team GB 49er FX Olympic sailor, Saskia Tidey at the prize giving and kept her busy with photos and questions about her experience at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”

RJC South SW 2

Club trophies

Spinnaker Sailing Club saw the largest increase in entrants from the 2020 event and therefore won the BYS South Regional Junior Championship Development Trophy. Andrew Simpson Centre, Portsmouth and West Oxfordshire SC were joint second.

James Oborne, Chief Instructor & Boatswain at Spinnaker Sailing Club said: “Receiving the Development Trophy feels great, having seen the number of youth sailors at the club grow over the last 18 months, it’s brilliant to see this recognised. A lot of this is down to our hugely supportive parents who see the benefits and enjoyment of sailing, especially Emma, who is on our sailing committee and has been key in driving the enthusiasm and organising all our families heading down to Weymouth for the weekend!”

The youngsters came from a wide variety of coastal and inland clubs throughout the South and South West regions. There were also many new South region clubs to the Championship including West Wittering SC, West Oxfordshire SC, Reading SC and Calshot SC. In total an impressive 25 clubs from the South region took part.

Hayling Island Sailing Club was awarded the RYA Zone Championships Club Trophy (which was kindly donated by the South Regional Committee) on account of the club with the most sailors taking part. Second and third place went to Royal Lymington SC and Warsash SC.

Whilst in the South West region, Parkstone Yacht Club were awarded the RYA Zone Championships Club Trophy and were also winners of Regional Junior Championship Development Trophy.

OnBoard Fleet

Nearly 50 children took part in the OnBoard Fleet – the largest of any of the regattas. For many this was their first taste of travelling to a different location whilst having fun, making new friends and learning new skills.

The 8 – 13-year-olds enjoyed lots of fun activities with the focus around ‘games with aims’ rather than racing. The games were also designed with OnBoard character attributes, such as displaying teamwork, independence, determination and communication in mind.

As Susie Moore, Regional Development Officer for the South explains: “On Saturday the youngsters enjoyed reaching across the wind, as well as collecting tennis balls at one end and sailing to another end before dropping into containers. This required teamwork and communication between those in the boat but also with the other sailors, to do this as quickly as possible. We also did some landings on the beach and off again. Again, focusing on these character attributes.”

Saturday afternoon brought light winds so the children enjoyed splashing about, capsizing, and playing games which were boat based rather than sailing.

Sunday brought perfect conditions of sunshine and a decent 10 knots of breeze. During the morning the Fleet was split into groups. The young sailors sailed with a friend each but they didn’t necessarily know anyone else in their group. This was so the youngsters could build up their confidence, which is an OnBoard character attribute, as well as making new friends.

In the afternoon the youngsters practiced their backward sailing with some fun racing. The whole group also came together and enjoyed some starts and sailing around a diamond course, which for some was their first time attempting this challenge.

Susie adds: “At this year’s event there were many more youngsters in the OnBoard Fleet that have never sailed away from their home club, which is not unsurprisingly following the Covid lockdowns. So this was their first experience of sailing at a new venue with new instructors, but also a first experience of sailing on the sea for some too. Sailing in not only a new environment but also with new people helps build the youngsters’ independence and confidence.”

The OnBoard Fleet also had the opportunity to hop on some ribs and watch the Regatta Fleet from the water, which proved a big hit with the youngsters. Susie said: “They all loved the experience of the trip over in a powerboat so they could see what the Regatta Fleet was all about, and spot any older siblings too.

“Throughout the whole weekend there were lots of happy smiley faces.”

Leon Ward, Disability Development Officer - South and South West adds: “When the wind got up some of the kids were a bit nervous but then they really enjoyed it and had a great time on the water. It really was an inclusive weekend of youngsters of all ages enjoying the weekend and being out on the water.”

Eight young sailors from Spinnaker SC took part in the Onboard Fun Fleet, with spot prizes for two of the club’s youngsters. In addition, four of the club’s sailors raced Toppers in the Championship Fleet, including a first place in the Topper Regatta Fleet.

James at Spinnaker SC said: “Our sailors came away from the weekend even more enthusiastic about their sailing than before! After lots of fun in the OnBoard Fleet, and having seen the Regatta and Main Fleets racing, our younger sailors are now keen to push their racing ready for next year. Our racers have come away knowing where they want to go next and what to work on for more success next year.”

There were many volunteers, including instructors from Spinnaker SC, Chichester SC, Warsash SC and Royal Lymington SC, who helped with the running of the OnBoard Fleet. “Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make the weekend so enjoyable for all the youngsters.” Susie added.

RJC South SW Event OnBoard ball game in the water

Regional Training Groups
The Championship is a Regional Training Groups (RTG’s) selector indictor event. The invites to the RTG’s will be sent out in around a couple of weeks’ time. (w/c 11 October).

Duncan concludes: “This event was the largest of the Championships which took place around the country, and I would like to thank the army of over 120 helpers, volunteers, coaches and staff ashore and on the water who helped it run smoothly. Everyone helped make it such a big success, and without their help the event couldn’t take place.”

High praise

Many parents were quick to acknowledge the hard work from volunteers and staff alike.

Coaches in the Regatta fleet, including Tim Cross, Max Todd and London 2012 Paralympic gold and Rio 2016 bronze Olympian Helena Lucas, received high praise from parents. One parent commented: “Thank you for your work with the regatta fleet this weekend, it’s such a powerful and understated event with a perfect format to foster the skills leaned thorough a summer in a club. I’m certain the cements the ‘bug’ for a bunch of kids and that’s crucial for making life-long sailors. Your coaching style and delivery amazing as usual.”

“Everything was really smooth, clear, very professional, light and positive which made for a good day on the water as part of the team. Well done for pulling a cracking group and very capable leaders together.”

Thank you for a great event! We know how much hard work and time must go into these events, so a huge thank.

“A huge thank you for the weekend. Our boys had a fantastic weekend: their first attempt at racing anywhere beyond the Exe, and both of them are buzzing. It's obvious what a huge undertaking it is to organise such a major event.”

“A very big thank you for an excellent event this weekend. I think everybody had a great time, and Jack in particular really enjoyed it. He is extremely fired up about doing as much big-fleet sailing as possible!”

“Thank you for a very enjoyable Regional Champs. The Gurnard sailors had a lot of fun and great sailing conditions yesterday.”

“Thank you Susie and the team - Marnie had a fantastic time!”

“What an excellent weekend.”

“Thanks to everyone who made the event a success, both those who delivered the racing and activities, and the parents who spent the weekend with us supporting their young sailors!”

Windsurfers

The dinghy festivities were preceded by a regatta especially for junior windsurfers. Read about the 41 windsurfers taking part in the windsurfing Championship here.

Next year!

The full results from all the championships can be found here.

In a change from the traditional September schedule, the Regional Junior Championships will be moving to early summer in 2022, hopefully enabling better weather for competitors and longer evenings for after-racing social activities.

RJC South SW