The RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championship at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy welcomed both experienced and new teams for the 2023 edition.
Skipper Ben Tylecote with a team from Rutland SC claimed overall victory for the second year running, while Harry Sims’ team from Llandegfedd SC – competing at their first ever match racing event – finished fourth overall and took the Under-19s title.
With a mix of conditions over the weekend (8-9 July 2023) and plenty of breeze to test the teams and their boat handling in Elliott 6m keelboats, the #rockupandrace event saw ever tighter competition as the full schedule of racing unfolded.
By the end of two round robins, Tylecote had a sweep of wins, with the team skippered by last year’s runner-up Oli Hale also on form, winning all of their races apart from against Tylecote.
In the semi-finals, Tylecote beat Heather Quinn 2-0, and Hale likewise took a 2-0 scoreline, beating Sims. The petit final then saw Quinn claiming 2-1 and third overall from Sims.
Finals rematch
The finals, as in 2022, was once again Tylecote v Hale.
Tylecote’s team comprised Jamie Tylecote, Freya Pembury and Issy Leetch, and picking up the story, Ben said: “They are all incredible sailors in their own right so having them onboard was something of a dream team, so thanks to all of them for letting me steer!
“We had a great time. It was a windy weekend at Weymouth with sunshine, torrential rain and then sun again! We had 10-20 knots of breeze and match racing is always entertaining. New teams and old battled it out through a double round robin and play-offs, until eventually we were left to face Oli Hale’s team for a repeat of last year’s finals.
“The best-of-five went to 1-1 with the wind still picking up and after winning the next race, we needed one more win. Another hard fought pre-start left us with a penalty to take but a slightly better acceleration off the line allowed us to extend enough to take the penalty on the final upwind, keeping the lead and taking the title.
“We want to thank the John Merricks Sailing Trust for their invaluable support of youth sailing at Rutland. Special thanks also to our coaches, especially my parents, who have been incredible over the years supporting sailing at Rutland.”
Full results can be found here.
Next generation
The annual RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championship is for competitors aged 14 to 23 and with on-water support and mentoring, also aims to bridge the gap from dinghy racing and inspire young sailors wanting to have a go at keelboat or match racing.
Tylecote won both the overall and Under-19 titles at the 2022 RYA Harken Youth Match Racing Championships in Cardiff. This year it was the turn of a new team (pictured below) to claim the Under-19 trophy, with helm Harry Sims (14) stepping into the spotlight with Flo Tovey (14) – a new addition to the Llandegfedd team – on tactics, James Clements (16) main trimmer and Jack Sims (16) on bow.
Harry said: “It was amazing to be down at WPNSA for the Youth Match Racing Champs. On Friday we had a training day on the boats as a few teams, including us, had never sailed Elliotts or even match raced. Our keelboat team usually race an SB20 ‘Gelert’ owned by James Howells – who also generously provided us with team kit for the weekend – and none of us had any previous experience with symmetric spinnakers as we all come from 29ers and ILCAs.
“The coaching was massively helpful and appreciated, as we hadn’t done any match racing prior to the event. We soon got into the rhythm and came away with some good results. We found match racing very enjoyable and I found it a good way to sail against others in a competitive but friendly environment. We can’t wait until our next match racing opportunity.”
Thanks went to all the volunteers who made the weekend possible and to sponsors Harken.
Next up in the RYA Match Racing Summer Series is the Marlow Ropes Women’s Championship, 16-17 September at WPNSA – enter here or find out more about all upcoming events in the 2023 series at www.ryamatchracing.co.uk.
