The British Youth Sailing South West Dinghy Regional Junior Championships took place at a new venue last weekend (17/18 June) – Torbay, hosted by Royal Torbay Yacht Club (RTYC) and Paignton Sailing Club (PSC). There was a real buzz of excitement around the slipway, and the venue had all the young sailors talking. Saturday saw very light winds in the morning, but these built slowly over the two days providing some good sailing.
The Rookie fleet, powered by OnBoard, began with a briefing from coach Hannah Mason, who reassured them that the weekend was about fun and challenge rather than out-and-out competitiveness. Their sessions on the water looked at the six character attributes that OnBoard revolves around, and with lots of fun games and shrieks of laughter it was hard to believe that there was so much learning going on! Prizes were awarded for determination, confidence, creativity, teamwork, communication and independence. A massive thanks to the volunteers from RTYC, PSC and the Andrew Simpson Centre who helped run the fleet.
The Championship fleet managed six races over the two days, in some shifty conditions which proved a challenge to the Race Officer and sailors. The Coached Regatta fleet and RS Tera fleet ran eight. Both RTYC and PSC provided RIBs and instructors, and their volunteers did great work putting the event together.
Regional Performance Manager Duncan West commented: “It was just great to see the sailors enjoying the conditions, coming off the water smiling, and seeing the progress they made after coaching. This was the English Riviera at its best!”
The RYA Zone Championship Club Trophy for the club with the most entries went to:
1st Parkstone Yacht Club 26 entries
2nd Starcross Yacht Club 25 entries
3rd Exe Sailing Club 13 entries
The BYS RJC Development Trophy for the largest increase in participants from last year went to:
1st Starcross Yacht Club for an increase of 13
2nd Exe Sailing Club for an increase of 12
3rd Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club/Axbridge Animals for an increase of 8