The director of the Cowes Regatta has declared that sailing is no longer elitist after two inner London teenagers won top prizes at the prestigious sailing competition.
Last week Christopher-Joel Frederick, 18, from Tottenham, North London, was named the winner of the inaugural Cowes Week Youth Trophy, while his school team mate Kai Hockley, 17, received the Cowes Young Skipper prize.
The pair were chosen from around 600 under-25s taking part in the seven-day event which takes place every year off the coast of the Isle of Wight.
The two boys, who attend Greig City Academy in Hornsey, learnt to sail as part of an outdoor programme run by their geography teacher Jon Holt, 47, who joined the school in 2005 and made it his goal to give pupils the opportunity to sail.
Alongside racing, the students fundraise around £20,000 annually with their teammates to maintain, restore, and rig the boats they use in practice and competition, all of which they manage by themselves with help from Mr Holt.
Christopher-Joel, who won the top prize, has been sailing for seven years, and has been a key part of the Greig City Academy’s Scaramouche Youth Sailing Project since its first appearance at Cowes Week back in 2016.
The teenagers have competed in Cowes Week every year with a small group of students from their school. Commenting on the team that competed this year, Mr Holt said: “They don’t wallow in self pity, they take chances and say this is a good opportunity, I will go and race against professionals on equal terms.”
Christopher-Joel said: “I love a good challenge, and racing in this sport with all the different wind conditions, tidal conditions means no sailing days is the same as the last.”
Kai added: “It’s a good feeling to win the award, because it’s hard competing. we’re against world-class Olympians, so it’s a great sense of achievement.”
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