Emma and Andy selected for GBR at 2016 Youth Sailing Worlds in NZ

by RYA on 14 Jul 2016 Windsurfers Emma Wilson (OTC) and Andy Brown (Loch Insh) are the first two sailors to be selected to represent British Youth Sailing at the 2016 Youth World Sailing Championships in Auckland, New Zealand (14-20 December).

Wilson’s selection was confirmed following the RS:X European Championships in Helsinki, Finland (2-9 July) where she finished 11th European sailor and third under 21, just one point outside the medal race spots.

The 17-year-old is a member of the British Sailing Team Podium Potential Squad and will be attending the Youth Worlds for the second time. The Christchurch windsurfer won silver at the 2015 event and plans to upgrade that medal to gold this time around.

Wilson trains with fellow British Sailing Team member Izzy Hamilton and will continue to do this in her preparation for gold at the 2016 Youth Worlds: “For the summer I will train in Weymouth and then the Class Youth Worlds are in November in Cyprus, so I will go to that which will be good preparation for the Youth Worlds.

“It feels pretty cool to be selected again for the Youth Worlds, it makes all the hard days training worth it. I’ve never been to New Zealand before but I’ve always wanted to go, it should be fun and I’m excited!”

Teammate Brown finished 19th in the Youth Men’s event, beating British rivals Josh Carey and James Hatcher to the one coveted spot on the British Youth Sailing Team for New Zealand.

“It feels fantastic to be selected, especially after being the reserve place for Malaysia last year, I know I have made good progress,” said 17-year-old Brown.

“I am feeling confident. I have six months and know exactly what I need to work on between now and then, so should be in a really good position going into the event.

“This will be my first time out of Europe so I’m really looking forward to it,” concluded Brown, from Glasgow.

The Youth Worlds is the premier youth racing event in the world, bringing together young sailors from over 60 countries racing in nine fleets. This year’s event will be held in New Zealand in December.

The final team selection will be announced on the 14 August following a number of international events across the 29er, 420 and Laser Radial classes.

One pair hoping to secure the 29er is spot Huw Edwards and Josh Dawson (Pwllheli SC) who recently won bronze at the 29er European Championships in Norway (29 June – 4 July).

The British sailors battled it out with two Dutch teams who ultimately took the first two spots on the podium.

A painful end to a positive week explained Dawson: “We are very happy with the result and it’s more than we could have expected at the start of the event.

“But when you go into the last race knowing you can win the event, it’s a bit painful having to walk away with bronze.”

Edwards and Dawson will attend the 2016 EUROSAF Youth European Sailing Championships in Austria (17-21 August) as part of a 24-strong British team and they have been using this as experience to take forward.

“Well the EUROSAF fleets are small just 25 boats, which is similar to the gold fleet that we’ve had here at the Euros, and there will be a lot of the same competition we will face at the EUROSAFs so it’s good learning,” concluded Dawson.

At the Laser Radial Europa Cup in Warnemunde over the weekend (9-10 July) Dan Whiteley (Port Dinorwic SC / Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli) and Ellie Cumpsty (Chew Valley) won their respective fleets. Milo Gill-Taylor (Royal Lymington) also finished third under 17.

In the Laser 4.7 class, 14-year-old Matilda Nicholls from Royal Lymington was crowned the U16 European Champion in Morgat, France over the weekend.

In Cork, Ireland, Topper sailor Nick Welbourne (Hykeham SC) beat over 50 young sailors to win the 2016 Irish Topper Nationals winning three of the nine races. Teammate Angus Kemp (Poole YC/Parkstone YC) finished one point from the podium in fourth meanwhile Hakan Digby (Queen Mary SC) and Morgan Smith (Hollowell SC) ended their week in seventh and eighth respectively.