Five teams granted boats after 2019 RLYC Etchells Class Youth Trials
by Jan Ford 19 Apr 2019 17:04 AEST
Following four open training camps run during February and March 2019, the Royal London Yacht Club ran the trials regatta on the weekend of March 30/31 . Saturday's conditions were difficult allowing only two races. However, Sunday was near to perfect with 15 to 17 knots of breeze and sunshine, enabling race officer Jong Long and his team to run a further five windward/leeward races.
Deserving winners of the regatta were the The Royal Lymington Yacht Club team, led by Robby Boyd (bow/jib trim), Hattie Rogers (helm), Max Crowe (mainsheet/tactics), and Henry Collison (spinnaker trim/ navigation). Max and Hattie are racing Etchells for the first time, whilst both Robby and Henry sailed last year in some events with a youth team.
A superb second in the series was the Greig City Academy team 2 albeit with an owner's representative on board.
This year, the Academy has granted five boats. Teams will not only get the use of a fully-funded Etchells for this year's Cowes racing season, but will also be funded to compete in the Etchells Class Nationals, Europeans and Lendy Cowes Week 2019.
The successful teams are:
1. Royal Lymington Yacht Club
2. Greig City Academy
3. Royal Thames Yacht Club
4. The Royal Dart Yacht Club
5. Oxford University Yacht Club
The Etchells Academy has been running for over 9 years and has seen more than of 600 youth sailors participating in the training camps and trials.
The driving force and primary supporter behind the Academy is David Franks, Cowes Class Captain. Other supporters include Cowes Yacht Haven, Red Funnel, the Royal London Yacht Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club, North Sails, Spinlock and several present and past owners in the Cowes Fleet including the Fleet's Admiral, Ted Fort. The coaching and administration is superbly managed by Solent and Etchells guru David Bedford and Nicky Bedford.
David launched this initiative to encourage young sailors into the class and is rightly credited with keeping the Cowes Etchells Fleet buoyant.
Teams who are granted boats commit to Cowes Class racing calendar for the whole season, and many continue to sail within the class providing excellent crew options for owners.
Some of the sailors who were unsuccessful in this year's trials have already found crewing positions on other boats.
The dates for the 2020 camps and trials will be announced shortly. We welcome sailors from sailing/yacht clubs, associations and individual team entries. Sailors need to be between the ages of 18 and 25 (25 or under on January 1st 2020). Applications should be made to David Bedford: Any questions, please contact David by email or 0780 8400008.