RYA Schools Match Racing Championship 2024 at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

RYA Schools Match Racing Championship at Weymouth © Richard Moxey

The RYA Schools Match Racing Championship supported by Moody Decking saw eight teams duelling for supremacy at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy.

Ryde School and Royal Hospital School battled it out for the podium spots following a hard-fought weekend with teams also representing Sevenoaks School, RGS and Tonbridge.

Teams competed in British Keelboat Sailing's Elliott 6m fleet in Portland Harbour and a relatively settled westerly wind allowed a full day of racing on the Saturday.

At the end of the first round robin, the RHS team of Sophia Dias was leading after losing only one of their seven races, just ahead of Ruby Sunderland (Ryde) and Christopher Marsh (also RHS), who each claimed five wins. The results were very close and the next four teams were all tied on points.

Sunday then brought a stronger north-westerly wind with more challenging conditions and a second round robin was completed by lunchtime. The wind built and crews had to work hard to sail the boats efficiently, whilst using their match racing tactics to the full.

The second round robin saw Sunderland's team win all seven of their races to sit top of the overall leaderboard and claim a place in the final along with Dias. This saw Sunderland's team continue their form to win 2:0 from Dias and championship.

The petit final between Marsh and James Zanenga (Ryde), who finished the round robins in third and fourth overall respectively, saw Zanenga winning 2:0 to claim the third spot on the podium.

Race Officer Mike Johnson said: "A final result was achieved as the light began to fade, ending a most exciting weekend. The standard of sailing was a credit to all the teams."

Top four overall:

1. Ruby Sunderland - Ryde 1
2. Sophia Dias - RHS 2
3. James Zanenga - Ryde 2
4. Christopher Marsh - RHS 1

Full results breakdown

Event Director Phil Devereux said: "We had two female skippers leading the way and the racing was really good throughout the weekend. There were some close matches and the judges were called in on a number of occasions to take a look at the overlaps. There's certainly a bright future for match racing.

"While some teams were more experienced than others at keelboat sailing and match racing, it was really pleasing to see how the skill level went up over the two days. Every team had improved in terms of preparation, starting, tactical awareness, boat speed and handling on the second day, demonstrating great learning and adaptability, and it was a really positive weekend.

"A big thank you WPNSA for hosting and as ever to all the volunteers, including our umpires and race team, without whom these events would not be possible."

Planning is now under way for the RYA National Match Racing Championship 2025 series, which will include the RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championship. Find out more at www.rya.org.uk/racing/keelboat-racer/match-racing