Young sailors triumph in competition (From Boating Cornwall)

Young sailors triumph in competition

8:00am Friday 26th June 2009

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A team of youngsters from Looe Community School were said to be “stoked” after they triumphed in a windsurfing and sailing competition during the Callington Schools Sports Partnership OnBoard Festival at Siblyback.

The children were among 80 pupils from local schools, aged between 11 and 16, who took part in the fun racing event, having learnt their skills over the past eight weeks through the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) OnBoard scheme that introduces children of all abilities to sailing and windsurfing.

Co-ordinated by RYA OnBoard Development Officer Stuart Jones, the festival was hosted by the South West Lakes Trust, Siblyback, where the children have been attending their after-school OnBoard sailing sessions.

Despite rainy weather, with mist obscuring the far end of the lake, all the youngsters thoroughly enjoyed the sailing activities, which included relays, singlehanded and team races and Le Mans-style races – and the sun came out for the prizegiving!

Beth Matthews, from runners-up Callington Community College, said: “It was great fun, even though the weather was bad. I didn’t know so many other pupils sailed. We’ll see them again next year for a rematch!”

Special mention must also be made of the students from Liskeard School, who had to work harder than everyone else because they were three team members down.

Rob Francis, Callington School Sports Partnership competition manager, added: “The young people have been training for this for eight weeks, and I was amazed at the improvement they have made in their sailing skills and team skills. Even the bad weather could not dampen their enthusiasm.”

Those taking part in the festival were from the secondary schools in Callington, Liskeard, Launceston, Saltash, Bodmin, Bude, Looe and Wadebridge.

Run by sailing’s National Governing Body, the RYA, OnBoard is a highly successful industry-supported grassroots programme which seeks to make sailing and windsurfing easier to get into for young people. Over a ten year period the programme aims to introduce a minimum of 500,000 children to sailing in the UK, converting over 10% of them into regular participants. So far it’s nicely on track.

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