Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series- Students set to take on the World Cup

by Clyde Cruising Club on 27 May 2010 The imminent Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series, which starts on Friday on Loch Fyne off Tarbert, Argyll, will be a key stage in the training of a group of young university students as they seek to win a podium place at the 30th Student Yachting World Cup which takes place in October in La Rochelle, France.

The student team which represents the University of Strathclyde will be sailing in the one design Sigma 33 class, the core team of four racing their first one design event together as they step up their bid to challenge for the world student title. They will compete with the Sigma 33 ‘Catalina’ which is owned by the university’s renowned department of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering.

Skippered by John Mill, a second year Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering student, the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series team includes three other students who will race in France on the 32 foot Grand Surprise class boats which are used for the event. Tom Gabbott is a psychology student who looks after mainsheet and tactics, Beartrand Martin-Laval from France is a sail trimmer and Theo Hoole is bowman. They will sail in the same roles at Tarbert along with Cal McKenzie sail trimming, Aonghais Rowe in the pit who is Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering graduate, and Jamie Hope on mast.

The boat has just had mechanical repair completed and so the crew have so far only had a couple of Wednesday evening races on the Clyde to warm up for the north of Britain’s premier sailing regatta, but they will sail again together this week, before taking part in Thursday’s feeder passage race.

'It is a competitive class and we have not really raced the boat in a one design regatta so far but we really hope that we can make it in to the top three. We have all raced at Tarbert before and so know the level of competition.' Says skipper John Mill, 'What is important for us is in improving how we work together.'

Mill and Gabbott were on the Strathclyde team which finished eighth last year at the Student Yachting World Cup which was raced in Marseille. From that event they know that starting let them down last year and that will be one area they can improve on over the four days of racing on Loch Fyne.

Under skipper Ruairidh Scott, a Strathclyde Naval Architecture & Mechanical Engineering graduate from Tarbert, the Scottish/Strathclyde team has won the student world cup twice in 1999 and 2002.

The team plan to raise their budget of over £10,000 between now and late summer through sponsorship.

'In fact last year we raised about £18,000 and started on fundraising later. So, in that respect, we have our proposals out and so I feel like we are ahead of the game a bit there.' Mill says.

They will be coached in La Rochelle by Chris Noble, who skippered the team last year, but who has now moved on from Strathclyde to work full time in sailing, with the British Keelboat Academy and sailing and working with Team Aqua on the 2009 RC 44 Tour.

The Student Yachting World Cup attracted 12 teams from 11 different nations in 2009 and was won by Italy.

http://www.scottishseries.com/