Over 300 of the UK's best young racing talents battled it out in tough conditions at the 2024 RYA Youth National Championships, held at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy during the Easter break (1-5 April).
The latter half of the week saw strong winds leading to a disrupted schedule, but race management teams made the most of improved conditions when they came, with winners crowned across six classes as iQFOiL windfoilers joined sailors in the 420, Nacra 15, 29er, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 fleets at the pinnacle youth racing event.
After a successful pilot last year, the event staged Olympic-style medal racing on the final day for the 420 and ILCA 6 male fleets as well as a knockout medal series for the iQFOiL. The iQFOiLers also experienced a mix of slalom and course racing formats for their opening series, although the strong winds put paid to planned sprint races as part of the the 29er fleet's opening series.
"What's great about the RYA Youth Nationals is that, whether you're pushing for the front of the fleet or you're here for the first time, it's a great learning and development opportunity for your sailing," said RYA Youth Racing Manager Oli Woodcock.
"It's been a great week. We've had a mix of conditions, some challenging conditions for everyone whether that was the race officers or the sailors. I've seen some really good courage and determination in these challenging conditions."
"For people for whom it's their first event, hopefully they've had a really good time and have learned a lot about how to sail the different classes," Woodcock continued. "For people that are pushing for medals, hopefully it has given them a chance to practice performing under pressure, getting ready for the internationals in the summer."
Competitors were fortunate to welcome a number of British Sailing Team names throughout the week to help encourage and inspire them.
Full results are available on the RYA Youth Nationals event website.
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