British Keelboat Academy - Core training concludes

by Matt Carter on 25 Mar 2014 A total of fifteen young aspiring keelboat talents who were selected for the British Keelboat Academy in January brought their Core Training to a close this weekend at the UKSA headquarters in Cowes, Isle of Wight (22-23 March).

With three weekends of Core Squad training under their belts looking at one-design racing in the RYA’s fleet of Elliot 6ms to learn the ropes of match racing with professional sailors Ian Williams and Nick Cherry, this weekend sailors concluded their intense training programme with a focus on offshore racing.

Sailing in J109s, the BKA sailors spent time getting to know the ins and outs of the boat, learning to work well as a team whilst also working on slick manoeuvres. Saturday night consisted of a four-hour race between the two boats which included a couple of windward-leeward legs before a reach across the Solent back to Cowes for the finish.

'This final weekend with the BKA Core Squad was a real highlight for me, especially our night sail that was a race in the Solent which ended up being really close,' said Alex Benbow, 19, from Winchester.

'I think it was a highpoint for the majority of the squad as it was the pinnacle of everything we had learned over the four weekends of training with the BKA. It was our last big sail together, with the added dimension that it was dark, which made everything a little harder, especially navigation.'

Miles Ushaw, who started sailing dinghies at 15 and who then moved into keelboat sailing at Plymouth University, admits that the BKA has been everything which he expected it to be: 'I applied to the BKA to improve my keelboat sailing and to get my foot on the ladder to becoming a professional sailor. It means a lot to be a part of this programme because when you look at who’s been a part of it in previous years you can see a long list of Volvo sailors, America’s Cup sailors and lots of top level professional sailors who compete in other events like the RC44 series.'

'Having the likes of Ian Williams who is a quadruple Match Racing World champion, and Nick Cherry, a four times RYA National Match Racing champion, on hand to offer support and advice was great. We got valuable insights into how they became professional sailors and more importantly; how to stay at the top once you’ve got there. We also got to ask them about their specialist areas and got advice on furthering our own careers.'

Ash Holmes, BKA Head Coach, added: 'We planned the training differently from previous years, focusing on more practical training within different areas of the racing industry. This gave the sailors experience in a range of events and boats, so they can make a better decision on where they would like to take their sailing career. All the sailors have a good idea of what they are doing this season and are all planning on returning in 2015 to continue their training with the BKA. A huge thanks to all the coaches and guests for making this programme a success.'

For more information about the British Keelboat Academy click here