Summer Pt2- Youth Worlds and Junior Europeans

Part 2 of my summer started in an airport in the south of Portugal. After the great event that was the 420 World Championships we immediately hopped onto a taxi to the airport. The 420 Team GBR representatives, that were William and I along with Ellie Keers and Faye Chatterton and our coach Jonny Mcgovern were on our way to Poland for the Youth World Championships. We were excited to say the least as we travelled to what would be the most important and prestigious event we have all ever competed in. We flew to Stanstead Airport in the UK where we had an overnight wait in the nearby hotel to fly out early the next morning with the rest of Team GBR consisting of 2 laser sailors, 2 29er teams, 2 windsurfers and a Nacra pairing. 

The team 

After arriving, we had a team lunch before heading  down to the club. World sailing put a lot of effort into the boat park and it looked very cool. There were huge screens displaying results and live updates along with electronic tallies and free coffee, which I made full use of! Due to the strict regulations to make the event fair we had a limited amount of time to train before the event. 

On the Saturday we headed down early to the boat park to rig the boat up. The boat and sails etc are all provided to keep the event fair. We had just used the Zaoli Sails provided at the Worlds, so we felt confident with the setting, however the Nautivela hull took some getting used to. We had to rig as a 4 as there is only one 420 per nation, which proved more challenging than expected as we all had our different says on how things should be done. We were allowed 2 hours on the water between us so we split it in two and had a brief training session each. Launching was a challenge as the event had built a makeshift pontoon however this ended up almost sinking due to the amount of boats on it adding to the fun. Our first sail out was very important just to get a feel for the boat and the venue. After a few boat repairs that evening we felt happier with the boat. We stayed in a big hotel, which every single sailor stayed in making it a great event to meet new friends over dinner or the table tennis table. Dinner was a huge buffet with endless options which was delicious. Sunday was practise race day- a great opportunity to tune against the other sailors and work out the race committee. And also get used to the weird format with either sailing in the morning or the afternoon and having to swap with the girls. After a productive day we had an early night sleep ready for race day 1. Nervous was understatement that night.

Day 1 started off light with a postponement just adding to the tension in the boat park. After a delay we eventually got racing in a light breeze of around 5 knots. We were nervous as these aren't our favourite conditions but we just kept our head down and made sure we completed our pre start routine and did everything we usually do. We had a solid start and followed our plan and managed to grab a 7th which helped settle our nerves down. Race 2 saw us claim a 6th so a solid day 1 keeping us very well in contention. 

Day 2 bought a breezier 8-14 knots which helped us and we were able to grab another 6th
 and then a 1st! We led round the first windward mark after a great start and solid strategy and then had a intense battle with the Spanish (the 2019 World Champs!) catching us up the whole race. It all came down to the final two gybes. The spanish were soaking over the top of us and ended up infront of us about 10 boat lengths away from the reach mark to the finish. We had had this situation in a training race earlier this year and messed it up so Will just turned round to me and said remember that training race lets just pretend its like that again. And so we did and as they gybed we gybed on top of them and then managed to gybe round them at the bottom mark and just sneak infront of them at the finish grabbing us the first. A very proud moment. So far a solid event putting us in 3rd overall giving us the bronze bib. 


Day 3 was the windiest day of 14+ knots. Surprisingly this ended up being our worst day as we struggled with our decision making upwind. Day 4 was super light with a long postponment but we managed to squeeze in another two races pulling us back up to 5th and still in contention. 

The final day was a one race day meaning everything was on the line. We were sat in 5th but could go up to 2nd and go down to 8th as the points were so tight. On the sail out we made the team decision to play the risky race because we hadn't come all this way to play it safe. We ended up actually having quite a bad start with our rivals having good starts but we sailed the quickest we have ever sailed in 5 knots and managed to sail straight through the fleet rounding the windward mark in 1st. However a poor downwind let us slip to 5th in the race and we held that position till the end. It was all looking good up until the final reach to the finish when the Israelis managed to pull back one boat meaning they beat us overall by one point denying us of a medal. 

Scary looking behind and seeing the 2019 and 2018 World Champs

Despite finishing 4th overall by one point we were super happy with the result as it was the best we have ever sailed and is a great feeling being 4th Youth in the world. It's also a huge learning lesson as it just proves how much every point counts in a race. Overall a super successful event and was so much fun and a great experience. Next time a medal though! 

Before we knew it we were on a plane to Spain for the 420 Junior Europeans our 3rd and final event of the summer. The event was in a weird lake like place with super hot light winds. We started off well but after a few bad races it all went downhill resulting in a poor performance. This probably wasn't helped by how tired we were physically and mentally after nearly 40 days straight sailing. 


Despite this, It was the best summer to date and a once in a lifetime experience and we have definitely improved our 420 sailing! I'd like to thank all my coaches, Musto and Will my crew for making everything happen. Also huge thanks to my parents and my grandparents for making it all possible!  

Shiny looking foredeck

Back to the Winter grind!

Since my last blog post, I have been crazily busy. Out of 7 weekends, I have been sailing for 6 of them! Oh, and I started 6th form was has been a blast but also lots and lots of work. 

I started with coaching at the Optimist End of Seasons in Weymouth which was a sunny weekend with some great individual successes for the West Kirby Race Team. I really enjoy the coaching weekends with the Optimist class as I get to pass on my knowledge from the class which I spent 7 years in to really enthusiastic sailors who are willing to learn and improve - a fantastic sight to see. Surprisingly, I actually learn a lot for my own sailing when I'm on a rib coaching as it is easier to see the 'big picture' - a well-needed skill for my personal sailing. 

I was back down in Weymouth again next weekend for a 470 Olympic Ranker! I was happily invited by Dan Burns to sail the event which turned out to be mega fun! On day 1 it was unfortunately too windy to sail so we went to the cinema to watch a movie with some good mates of mine who I hadn't seen for ages, which was good fun, and then went for a delicious curry. Thankfully day 2 brought slightly less wind (20 knots) which was quite windy for the first time in the 470! I learned so much which was awesome as I am interested in sailing the Olympic class when I am older. We even managed to get a 3rd! 

Tight committee boat end start 

It was then a week of hard school work before heading to Rutland for the 420 Inlands which was a re-run as it was initially called off due to poor weather earlier this year. We had a gusty weekend which was good fun when sailing on a triangle- sausage course, making the reach to reach gybe very interesting. Overall we had a good regatta in terms of racing/results however we felt like we had a bad weekend as we weren't sailing the boat very well- making too many mistakes. We came out of the event with a new goal- improving our downwind sailing in gusty conditions in terms of sailing towards the gusts more and deciding our angles that were needed better. 

The next weekend was back down in Weymouth for the first 420 Youth Squad Camp which we are very excited to be a part of. This was a crazy weekend as it was seriously windy both days. We were still able to keep it productive though and we learned a new skill called the 'Wild thing' where the crew is on the wire downwind which makes the boat more stable when sailing in a higher angle as we were going quicker than the waves. We also had a big group meal on Saturday night which is great as it helps the team to bond together forming many great friendships. Then it was a whole weekend off which was well needed as school work was seriously starting to build up!

Then it was back down to Weymouth (becoming a bit of a theme this Winter) for our first Multi-class Youth Squad A camp. Youth Squad A consists of the top 2-4 boats in each youth class who receive fully funded extra coaching which is awesome and we are very proud to be a part of it. We started the weekend with a whole squad meeting and then separate meetings with our individual class coaches. Jonny Mcgovern brought down lots of cool microphones which meant we could speak and hear each other without having to be next to each other, as well as a camera that told you every piece of data you ever needed to know. We then headed out in some fruity conditions. About halfway through the session,

we had a huge squall whilst in the bay which was recorded at a whopping 47 knots! We instantly capsized and then had to wait on the overturned boat whilst the squall died which was pretty scary as we were surrounded by ships. When we righted the boat we came up with a rip in the mainsail and spinnaker, a lost batten from the jib and a bent mast. NOT IDEAL! Then a long sail in before we assessed the damage which was a cost of about £2000. EEEK. We then had another meeting, this one about anti-doping in which we learned about what not to take and the consequences of doing the wrong thing. We also learned that at any point now we can be tested. The next day brought lighter winds so we went in the rib and swapped in and out with our training partner. It was then another long journey home and a hectic week during which I had lots of boat work to do including rigging a new mast!


We headed to Grafham for the 420 End of Seasons the weekend after. We had a hectic Saturday morning as we had no settings and the main halyard was tapered slightly wrong but we just about made it out on the water in the time for the first race. We had a good weekend in terms of sailing in some light conditions which we needed some practice in. However, once again we had some boat issues as we snapped the gooseneck and then broke the pole trying to fit a new one with a minute to go before a race start. Overall we finished 4th which was a remarkable result considering the 'boat situation'. 

Gorgeous reaching breeze

It was then a busy week at school catching up on missed work before heading down to Plymouth for a 420 Youth Squad residential camp. The very long drive was worth it as we had light winds at a cool, new and quirky venue. It's always nice to go to a new venue and some warm winter weather made it even nicer. The camp had a focus on starting which always results in long, tedious sessions but are then the most rewarding and productive. We came away with big improvements in our scoops and trigger pulls which is a nice little skill to have and should help us on those tough international start lines. It was then a proper pack up as the boat had to go over to Palamos. 

The next 2 weeks brought a lot of school work and 2 whole free weekends in a row. A very strange occurrence in my busy lifestyle! 

Next came Palamos which was a 7-day trip and I got to miss 5 days of college which was an added bonus. The Christmas regatta at Palamos is great as it's at the same time as the 470, Finn and laser events making it great to catch up with friends which I haven't seen in ages. We stayed in an apartment overlooking the apartment with my friend Drew Wright's dad which was great for postponements as we could see the flags from the balcony! We arrived at the event 4 days early which was great as it was a new venue for me. The first few days brought some light wind tuning which was good to get the boat set up and tuned correctly as we were using a new M7 mast. We then had 1 crazy day of training with huge waves which was epic. The training was short but intense much like our training in Lymington which I find is often the most effective. Before we knew it the event was upon us and day 1 was pending. We launched in a light breeze of 5 knots however the chop from the day before was still present making it very lumpy and hard to keep the flow over the sails. After postponements, the breeze gradually grew until we had a solid 15-18 knots with some large swell. We got 5,5,12 which we were pretty happy with considering Spain are the top nation at the moment in 420's. However, we were slightly disappointed with the 12th as we were coming 5th again however we lacked downwind speed when the wind dropped. Despite this, it was a successful day and we came out of it with another thing to work on. The next day incredibly dull with no wind, however, the winter sun made an appearance which was nice. Day 3 saw similar weather to day 1 with little breeze to start the day however it gradually built whilst we were doing our pre-start routines until we ended with 20+ knots and a huge swell which was awesome and one of the best days sailing ever! We scored a 7,12 and a 3rd. The 12th was quite annoying as we were 2nd in that race but capsized downwind and then in the last race we were leading around the whole course but we broached on the final downwind so we had to settle for a 3rd. Still a good result though. Our downwind definitely needs work! This put us in 10th place overall going into the last day which was good as our goal was to be top 10. That night we cooked a lovely fish dinner before having an early night ready for the final day racing. We woke up to a solid 0 knots with no chance of the breeze increasing so we packed the boats up and had a day chilling before catching a flight back home early the next morning. Overall the week was good fun and we did very well coming 10th overall as top British boat against a competitive fleet. We also came out of the event with many downwind training points to work on in the upcoming training season. 

For now its back to school before a long set of training weekends with a mixture of youth squad camps and independent training camps. Hopefully, I will also have some time to teach Freya some skills as well.