ISAF Youth Worlds - Full steam ahead for Kieran Martin

by Ben Baker on 16 Jul 2013 When it comes to the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships, Kieran Martin insists it is full steam ahead after the British windsurfer opened his event assault in impressive fashion. The 18-year-old is just one of 12 young British sailors selected to strut their stuff on the waters of Limassol in Cyprus.

And he ensured he stood out from the crowd after he ended day one in first place in the men’s RS:X with a trio of top-three finishes.

Martin kicked things off with a victory in Monday’s first race before following this up with finishes of second and third before the day was over.

This means that Martin already holds a four-point lead over his nearest rival, Ukraine’s Tugaryev Oleksandr, but the teenager is not about to take his foot off the pedal any time soon.

'The first day was a really good day on the water, it's a really long way out to the course so we got out nice and early,' said Martin.

'The first race was really light, which is my strength, so I managed to get a first – but I had some difficulty in that my kit decided to break just before the race so that was a bit tricky.

'As we were out on the water the wind picked up and we had two plaining races and I managed to get a second and a third so that was really good too.

'Looking ahead I think it’s going to be similar conditions every day; light in the morning and picking up as the day goes on.

'The fleets really good, there’s some good light wind sailors and also some really good strong wind sailors so there’s a lot of good competition.

'But, I think I've had some really good experience recently competing at some of the senior events and I'm just really looking forward to the week and hopefully I can carry this good start on.'

Elsewhere, James Hansen and Olivier Greber sit fourth overall in the SL16 class after finishes of seventh, fourth and fifth on day one.

Bryony Bennett-Lloyd and Annabel Cattermole are 12th in the 420 Girls while in the boys event Luke Burywood and Tim Riley sit 25th.

And it is a similar story for 29er pairing of Maria El-Khazindar and Ben Batten as the duo are 23rd after the first day’s action.

Tom Williams is 36th in the Laser Radial Boys class with Ellie Meopham tenth in the girls class.

But it is the windsurfers who are leading the way in Cyprus with defending girls champion Saskia Sills second after day one with finishes of third in the first race followed up by two fourth-place finishes.

'I’m happy with the racing considering I haven’t been feeling that well over the past few days,' Sills said.

'We had three good races, the first was fairly light, the second was the windiest and third was fairly on and on with the wind.

'It’s a good fleet and there are a few of us who are changing places and positions, but probably only two or three who are really consistent.

'I’m looking forward to heading back out there, I think it will be a case of it’s not finished until it’s finished here in Cyprus.'

Volvo Car UK is the title sponsor of RYA Volvo Team GBR, Britain’s sailing stars of the future and Official Car Partner to the British Sailing Team.