RYA Volvo Zone Championships - Youngsters prepare to sail off

by RYA on 24 Sep 2010 RYA Volvo Zone Championships - Zone and Home Country titles up for grabs and a chance to impress squad selectors.

Over 700 of the nation’s most eager young Olympic sailing stars of the future will be tussling for titles this weekend (25-26 September) as they do battle at the 2010 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships at eight venues across the UK.

With all eight Zone and Home Country Championship events sponsored by Volvo Car UK again this year, racing will take place in eight RYA-supported Junior dinghy and windsurfing classes at the six English Zones, Wales and Scotland.

The RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships traditionally mark the end of the Junior racing season and the start of a hard winter’s training. They are a key event for any young sailor wishing to be selected for the RYA Zone and Home Country squads, which are the first step on the pathway to Olympic Classes sailing.

Having honed their skills at club training and competitions throughout the year, the annual Championships give the sailors the chance to pit their wits against the best of the rest within their Zone under the watchful eye of their local RYA High Performance Managers (HPMs) and other senior RYA racing staff.

Expert advice will also be on hand to the youngsters at the North, East and South East events as World Champion Team Volvo for Life sailor Nick Dempsey joins the sailors in the North Zone, two-time Olympic champion Sarah Ayton visits the South East Zone and Skandia Team GBR’s Paralympic Sonar class star Stephen Thomas, travels to the East Zone.

Duncan Truswell, RYA Youth Racing Manager, said: 'The RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships are always a really great event as for many of the youngsters it’s the first time they have taken part at such a big competition, and the first opportunity to catch the eyes of the selectors for those aiming for selection for the Zone and Home Country squads.

'The purpose of the Zone and Home Countries squad programme is to deliver high a quality foundation of skills training locally and thereby ultimately, feeding talented sailors into the RYA National Junior squads nurturing them towards success at World and European Championships at Junior and Youth level. We are once again delighted that Volvo Car UK are sponsoring all eight events this year, which will allow some lucky sailors to come face to face with their Olympic hero’s. The RYA continues to value their considerable support in our quest to produce large numbers of World Class sailors.'

Duncan Forrester, Head of Public Affairs, Events and Sponsorship at Volvo commented: 'We are very proud of our association with the RYA and their Junior and Youth racing programmes.'

'The RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships provides great introduction for young sailors wanting to progress along the pathway to Olympic Classes, which is a crucial part of Volvo’s continued commitment to supporting British sailing, from grass roots to the pinnacle of the sport.'

The 2010 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Countries Championships will be staged at the following venues:
South Zone – Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, Dorset ·
South West Zone – Plymouth Mountbatten Centre, Devon
South East Zone – Queen Mary Sailing Club
East Zone – Combined Clubs of Burnham, Essex
West – Ullswater Sailing Club, Cumbria
North – Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club, Yorkshire
Wales – Pwllheli Sailing Club, Gwynedd
Scotland – Helensburgh Sailing Club, Argyll and Bute

http://www.rya.org.uk/