Tom crowned world champion (From Boating Cornwall)

Tom crowned world champion

4:12pm Friday 3rd September 2010 in

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Falmouth sailor Tom Phipps and team mate Richard Glover are the newly crowned World Champions in the International Dart 18 performance catamaran racing class after Sailing against more than 130 identical catamarans and 260 other competitive sailors.

Tom and crew Richard Glover, both 21-year-old students at University of Plymouth, fought off tough competition from renowned sailors from all over the globe to take the title in a nail biting competition that meant Tom and Richard had to beat the 2009 world champion team Dode/Moreau in the final race to take the top podium position.

The team won the race to secure the title, leaving the French team in runner up position, and promptly celebrated with a back flip off the stern of his boat, much to the amusement of the spectators on the water.

This was the first Dart 18 World Championship the pair have taken part in although they have successfully sailed together for many years in a variety of catamarans and yachts.

Tom Phipps is a local sailor from the Falmouth area and works at the Windsport Sailing Centre when not away at University or a sailing event. Winning this prestigious event is something that requires an extremely high level of sailing skill and focus, something the team have learned to manage in the run up to the event. Eleven years ago almost to the month Tom Phipps aged 10 was sailing at a UK national event in the same Weymouth Bay when the fleet was decimated by a line squall. Tom and his dad, Brian Phipps, went on to win that event and this time at the age of 21 years Tom went one better.