Brother and sister both win at OnBoard sailing festival in Bala

North Wales OnBoard Sailing Festival © WYA

North Wales OnBoard Sailing Festival © WYA

North Wales brother and sister pairing of Tasmyn and Tyler Green were both winners at the award-winning OnBoard sailing festival in Bala.

There were 76 sailors taking part in the successful event which included sailors between the ages of 7-16 of all standards from Welsh national squad to novices, with 29 from the OnBoard scheme to encourage children new to sailing.

While there was a healthy competition, there was a strong emphasis on the fun of sailing at the North Wales OnBoard Sailing Festival with the chance to showcase the strength of the sport across the region.

The OnBoard scheme has been running for a few years in North Wales and this was also a chance to see the progress of a host of sailors who have come up through the programme designed to give children a chance to sail.

Port Dinorwic's Tasmyn Green won the Optimist class of boat in the OnBoard fleet while Tyler, also Port Dinorwic, won the silver fleet in the main category in the same class of boat.

"The whole event was a huge success and great fun," said North Wales OnBoard Development Officer Charlie Haworth.

"The wind was very gusty making for some tricky conditions, but everyone handled that very well from seven-year-old Ceri Roberts of Clywedog upwards.

"The festival had already won a monthly award from #GetOutAndSail at YachtsandYachting.com, so it had a lot to live up to before we even started. Luckily the event did just that.

"The support of OnBoard suppliers ICOM was invaluable as they provided radios to help the smooth running of the event.

"We would like to thanks everyone from Port Dinorwic, Llyn Brenig, Clywedog, Llandudno, Holyhead, Gresford, Bala, Rhyl, Penmaenmawr Shotwick Lake and Pwllheli who took part in the two day event.

"The OnBoard fleet have been through coaching, but this would have been one of their first chances to race, while at the other end of the scale there were experienced sailors in the main fleet."

For more information go to www.northwalesonboard.co.uk

Run by the RYA, OnBoard is a grass roots programme which introduces sailing and windsurfing to young people aged 8 to 18, through schools, youth groups and training centres.

Over a ten year period OnBoard aims to introduce a minimum of 500,000 children to sailing and windsurfing in the UK, converting over 10% of them into regular participants. So far it's nicely on track.

For more information about how to get involved in sailing visit the RYA's website www.rya.org.uk or the OnBoard website www.ruob.co.uk

Results:

OB Fleet - Optimist and Optibat:
1st Tasmyn Green, PDSC
2nd Tom Watson, Llyn Brenig SC
3rd Ceri Roberts, Clywedog SC
1st Optibat Tom Backshall, Clywedog SC

OB Fleet - Topper:
1st Edward Walker, Bala SC
2nd Chloe Patrick, Bala SC
3rd Joe Brown, Rhyl YC

OB Fleet - General Handicap:
1st Aaron Spencer, Llandudno SC
2nd Alexander Rutlnad and Lydia Hoad, Clywedog SC
3rd Tirion Williams, Clywedog SC

Main Fleet - Optimist Gold:
1st Kai Wolgram, LLyn Brenig SC
2nd Phoebe Roberts, PDSC
3rd Eddie Holley, Llyn Brenig SC

Main Fleet - Optimist Silver:
1st Tyler Green, PDSC
2nd Ben Jukes-Bennett, Llyn Brenig SC
3rd Kirean Lewis, Shotwick Lake SC

Main Fleet - Topper Gold:
1st Abigail Roberts, Clywedog SC
2nd Stefan Feely, Clywedog SC
3rd Megan Bailey, Shotick Lake SC

Main Fleet - Topper Silver:
1st Rhys Chandler, Bala SC
2nd Molly Wright, Pwllheli SC
3rd Bronya Evans, Rhyl SC

Main Fleet - General Handicap:
1st Daniel Whitley (Laser Radial), PDSC
2nd Ciaron Jones and Elliot Jones (RS XL Feva no spinnaker), PDSC
3rd Hatty Morsley and Hannah Roberts, PDSC