Saskia Sills. Image credit Dave White.

This week kicked off with the news that top youth racer Saskia Sills had scooped another award, this time being crowned the YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the Year. More young windsurfers were then in the news as Fanatic and North take on the talents of Arthur and Alice Arutkin, Maxime van Gent and Caesar Finies.

There are many offers and deals on at the moment, our top picks being: 2013 early discounts from Club Vass, the RoHo january sales and Wet n Dry snow offers.

Also in travel news Windsurfing Into the Unknown have released their Jeri video guide and Neilson are inviting you away for a summer of sun!

Staying a little closer to home our favourite video this week showcases the abilities of a 2 year old windsurfer, loving his new Goya board.

And finally we can’t finish this weekly news round up without mentioning the upcoming SWA wave event run by Plymouth and Exeter universities, it promises to be a weekend and a half!

Until next week….

She won her first world title at her very first international regatta in 2009, claiming the Techno 293 Under-15 World Championship at just 13 years old before adding the Under-17 version to her CV just to years later.

This year Saskia has stepped up to the RS:X class, but her success has continued with Under-17 gold at the RS:X European Championship and gold in the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Dublin.

Here, Saskia answers the questions set by the BBC News School Report team from Farringdon Community Sports College in Sunderland.

Q: Who has been the most influential figure in your life?

A: My parents. They help me with everything I want to achieve and without them, a lot of what I do wouldn’t be possible.

Q: How do you balance training, education and social life?

A: I have very supportive friends from school who understand the commitments I have to make and so we try to meet up as much as we can when I’m not away competing or training.

I try to work as hard as I can at school with my school work so then that leaves little work to do in the evenings and at the weekends so I can focus on my training. I try not to miss a lot of school, but sometimes I have to because of overseas competitions.

My friends and teachers are very supportive of this and help me catch up with work I’ve missed when I’m back. I’m very proactive in approaching teachers before I go away to see if there is any work I can take with me or if there is any possibility for an extra hour after school to catch up on stuff which I have missed.

Being a twin also means that I’m never lonely so if I can’t see my friends it’s not as bad as it could be.

A: The music I like is really varied. When I’m competing I have a few songs which I listen to every time while I’m getting ready on land. Listening to these songs are part of my routine now! I mostly like relaxed music such as Coldplay, Newton Faulkner and Paolo Nutini.

Q: What is your favourite food and are you allowed to eat it?

A: Anything that my mum makes – she is an amazing cook! And yes!

Q: When you were younger, who was your role model?

A: My brother. He windsurfs too and is very good. When I was younger I always said that one day I will win a race against him and win (this hasn’t happened yet!).

I travelled about with my brother and dad to different lakes in the south west until my twin sister started to windsurf and so I started to windsurf with her and we carried on together.

Q: What was your favourite subject in school and why?

A: I am still at school in my first year of A levels, my favourite subject changes every week – I like the different challenge which they all have to offer.

Q: What can’t you live without?

A: My twin sister, Imogen, and my iPod.

Q: Where do you see yourself in four years’ time?

A: Either at university studying and still windsurfing or full-time windsurfing.

Q: What has been your sporting highlights of 2012?

A: Winning the ISAF Youth Worlds on my debut and being a nominee for the 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year along with Olympic and Paralympic medallists from London 2012.

Q: What is your view of sportspeople who take performance-enhancing drugs?

A: I think it’s sad that people think its ok to take drugs to enhance their performances. Sport should be about the best you can be (without the aid of drugs), and if people think that their best is still not good enough then that’s pretty bad and sad for the society we live in today.

Saskia Sills

The ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards are the highest award a sailor can receive in recognition of his/her outstanding achievements by the world of sailing.

For the 2012 Awards there are 9 Nominees, five male and four female, but there can be only one winner in each category. The winners will be announced at the Awards Presentaion on Tuesday 6 November in Dublin, Ireland.

Inspired to take up sailing by her older brother, Saskia Sills took to windsurfing like a duck to water and has impressed on the international scene.

At her first international regatta in 2009 Sills took her inaugural world crown, the Techno 293 Under-15 World Championship at just 13-years-old. Two years later the rising starlet of windsurfing added the Under-17 title to her list of achievements.

In 2012 Sills moved up into the RS:X where unprecedented success has continued to follow her every step of the way. At only her second international RS:X regatta Sills won Under-17 gold at the RS:X European Championship and bronze overall, aged just 15.

Less than two weeks later the Brit took to Dublin Bay, Ireland for the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship. As the second youngest sailor in the fleet and in amongst the defending champion and Youth Olympic Games gold medallist the Brit could not be touched. She came out of the blocks flying and double bullets on the opening day sent out a message to the 23-boat fleet. As the week progressed her rivals were left in her wake as she sealed a comprehensive victory.

Good luck to Saskia from us here at Boards!

Info courtesy of ISAF

Follow link for more on Sakia here

Sills - hopeful for award

More UK windsurfers taking top spots were Saskia Sills and Kieran Martin, who both bagged silvers at the RS:X youth worlds, click here for the full story!

Still on the competition topic, but in a very different way NWF have launched a new Facebook page and to encourage you to Like it are giving away an entry into the festival each month, read more here. 

Coming up this weekend are two huge windsurfing events. Up in Aberdovey Boardwise are running their annual Bonfire Bash with guests including Nik Baker, Ross Williams, Jem Hall and Dave White. Whilst in Weymouth freestylers unite for the first EFPT on UK waters! You can still get involved and enter for the event right here and of course follow the event for all news.

King and Queen of the Wind is on!

RS:X Squad with coach Ollie Woodcock

There were dual celebrations for Britain’s young windsurfers this weekend, with Kieran Martin and Saskia Sills both claiming podium honours at the RS:X Youth World Windsurfing Championships in Penghu, Chinese Taipei (21-27 October).

The pair earned two hard-fought silver medals for RYA Volvo Team GBR after six days of tough competition at Shili Beach, with the 16-year-old Sills also taking the Under 17 world title in addition to overall silver at the Under 19 event.

Launceston’s Sills sailed a solid series, posting either first or second places in seven of the 13 opening series races to head in the final 10-board medal race with a slender four point lead over Israel’s Neomi Cohen.

But with the Israeli sailor winning the final double-points medal race and the British sailor coming in fourth, the second step on the podium went to Sills, who’s made a rapid impact in her first season in the Youth RS:X class.

She finished third overall in the RS:X Youth European Windsurfing Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, winning the Under 17 category, and quickly followed that up with victory at her first ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland and another gold at the EUROSAF Youth Europeans to earn her nomination alongside Olympic and Paralympic medallists for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, the winners of which will be announced next Tuesday (6th November).

RS:X Action in Taiwan

Saskia’s twin sister Imogen, also competing at the Youth Worlds event, finished seventh overall and picked up bronze in the Under 17 Championship.

Meanwhile in the boy’s event, Cheadle’s Kieran Martin sealed his silver with the help of a race win in the final medal race.

In bronze medal position going in to the final day and with a six point gap to make the leap onto the next step of the podium, the 17-year-old 2012 European silver medallist Martin did precisely what was required of him, pulling off medal race victory and seeing his French rival, Martin Olmeta finish in ninth to elevate the RYA Volvo Team GBR sailor into the silver medal spot.

The event victory went to Poland’s Pawel Tarnowski, who finished ahead of Martin by just one point.

Joe Bennett also featured in the top ten spots for GBR, finishing eighth overall.

RYA Volvo Team GBR RS:X coach Oli Woodcock was pleased with his charges’ efforts.

“We’re really happy with how the event went – the guys all performed brilliantly, not only making the podium but also learning a huge amount from the week.

“It was building up to be a really high wind regatta, sort of 20-25 knots and gusting up to 50 at times in the days beforehand, which is apparently normal for this time of year!  By the time the event came around it had settled down a bit and was much more of an all-round regatta in terms of the conditions.

“Saskia’s had an awesome first season in the RS:X,” Woodcock explained. “She sailed really well this week, but just made a few too many mistakes this time to clinch the overall win.  She’s a little bit gutted to have missed out on another gold here, but she’s really mature for her age and will learn from those mistakes and come back stronger next year.  It’s a great result for Imi [Imogen] as well, who was sailing her first event as a full member of the RYA Volvo Team GBR RS:X Youth squad.

“Kieran’s had a bit of an up and down year so I’m really pleased for him that he’s been able to get a good result at these Worlds as well,” Woodcock continued.

“We did a lot of work after the ISAF Youth Worlds and the EUROSAF event, and he’d been racing really well in our pre-event training so we knew it was possible.  All credit to Kieran, he was mature and relaxed and made sure he was in the top three on the days when we had light winds, and top 10 in the planing races to put himself in the best possible position.”

For more information and for full results from the RS:X Youth World Windsurfing Championships visit the event website.

For details regarding the RYA Volvo Youth Racing programme or for further details on future regattas, click here.

Nick is currently lying in 4th with Bryony in 7th overall. Things are far from decided and Boards will continue to bring you all the action and results from the event site in Weymouth.

Stay tuned!

Elsewhere but sticking with the Olympic theme we reported that there has now been an official legal challenge against the ISAF ballot to not include the RS:X discipline in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Boards will monitor this situation closely and bring you updates as and when they happen.

The battle to save the Weymouth and Portland Rescue Helicopter is underway and you can pledge your support by signing the e-petition here

Saskia Sills reported her amazing success during the Windsurfing Worlds that were held in Dublin Bay recently. Read her write up here

We were given the good news that the Scottish Wind Fest has been confirmed. All the details can be found here

And finally, get involved with the RYA’s Project Windsurf UK initiative -

Are the Olympics whetting your appetite to get out there and get involved in sport?
When did you last go windsurfing? We’ve had some great conditions meaning a large number of you have been very active, but there’s definitely people who have yet to make the connection with a local group to help them get back out there. Check out the map – to find your local group and then click on their home page to join them – and then get posting! And if there’s not a group in your area yet, consider starting your own… 

Project Windsurf UK

Have a great weekend and pray for wind!

Dublin Bay has very strange local weather systems. One minute it could be 5 knots and coming from the right hand side of the course and the next it could be 20 knots and coming from the left hand side of the course! Luckily being British I was used to these conditions. 

We sailed all scheduled races which was 12 and they lasted about half an hour due to the strange wind! 

I went into the ISAF’s with no expectations at all. My goal was to learn as much as possible in the week, which I felt I had achieved. Winning was a bonus!

Being in RYA Volvo Team GBR was such a new and different experience but an amazing one at the same time. There was so much support which was really nice to have and which I hadn’t really experienced before.

Being World Champion in RS:X feels amazing – I didn’t know where I would be compared to the other girls as I had only competed against them in the  Techno class before (I moved to RS:X in September last year). 

Winning the Nations Trophy was also such a great achievement for RYA Volvo Team GBR. We’re all so proud of each other and it was great to be a part of the same team! 

I would like to say thank you to Duncan, Oli and Neil (our coaches) for being so supportive and making it such a great experience.

The next competition for me is the 2012 Eurosaf Youth Sailing European Championship in Denmark 4th-10th August. I competed in this event last year in Lake Garda in the Techno class but this year I will be racing in RS:X. My goal for this competition is again to learn as much as possible and soak up the experience. 

I must also thank my parents for supporting me all the way – and my twin sister Imogen.

She sails in the RS:X class as well and has been right there with me – all of last winter we trained together and she made me fast. Without her I would not be where I am today and would have not achieved what I have. I am looking forward to training with her again this winter and sharing all that I have learnt over the past few weeks with her.

Sills In Form - pic courtesy ISAF

Saskia Sills RS:X - pic courtesy ISAF

More on the ISAF website here 

Saskia Sills takes gold

“I can’t quite believe it! It’s such a shock but such a great feeling, I’m over the moon,” enthused Sills. “My aim entering the regatta was to try and finish within the top 10 and to gain as much experience as possible as it’s my first Youth Worlds and only my third proper event on the RS:X board. I don’t think it’s hit me yet as to how big this event actually is and what it means to medal here, I’m sure it soon will though and I can’t wait for tonight!”

Sills, who won the U17 class RS:X European title earlier this month, went into today’s only race with a guaranteed silver medal in the bag and needed to finish within  the top 13 to secure the world title. Following a 15^th in her penultimate race yesterday (Thursday 19 July), the pressure could have easily mounted on the youngest member of RYA Volvo Team GBR.

“At the beginning of the week I started off really well but as the week went on it got very tough. Yesterday I had a bit of a shocker in the final race and made it a lot harder for myself –  I couldn’t sleep last night which I’m sure was down to nerves. Everyone was congratulating me this morning before the race had even started which was a bit strange as I still had a job to do.

“I was so pleased when I crossed the finished line, it was a very stressful race,” said Sills. “At one point I was going round the top mark in 13^th with the people behind right on my tail which was when I soon realised I needed to pull my finger out. When I returned to the shore it was a great feeling. I’m now looking forward to the closing ceremony and celebrating the Nations Trophy with the rest of RYA Volvo Team GBR,” said Sills.

Congratulations to Saskia and we cannot wait to hear more about the victory on Boards.

This week was of course dominated by PWA news, firstly all the highlights from PWA Gran Canaria  then the news that Iballa Moreno and Philip Koester took further victories in PWA Tenerife too. Check out the Boardseeker action with brilliant videos from each day thanks to Alfie Hart.

During the competition the final 10 sailors were announced for the Red Bull Storm Chase, with Robby Swift in the mix with some of the best in the world. Ben Proffitt didn’t quite make it, but is nicely placed in 11th to step in should there be any injuries or sailors unable to make it…we’re sure we WILL see Proffitt in action in a force 10, potentially along with 12th placed Kenneth Danielsen who is probably the sailor most physically suited to the ballistic winds!

New equipment has been launched this week with the freestyle/wave range from Fanatic and North Sails, as well as the new range of wave sails from Simmer. 

We finish of this week’s top news with a brilliant image from one of the main men at RRD, Dave White and his new transport to the beach….we asked for more details, but looks like this was a top secret mission!

Dave White makes a speedy getaway!

Kieran Martin and Saskia Sills sealed silver and bronze medals respectively on Saturday’s final day of competition (7 July), with Sills also claiming the gold medal in the Under 17 female fleet. The RS:X podium places are added to the bronze medal won by Georgina Povall at the 2012 Laser Radial Youth World Championship in Australia and the gold medal by Rupert White and Tom Britz at the SL16 World Championship 2012 in France, marking a fantastic end to the week for the RYA Volvo National Youth Squad.

Over the course of the six day regatta (2-7 July) which welcomed 61 RS:X boards in a mixture of conditions, Kieran Martin was in fine form from the outset in the RS:X Youth Boys class. The 17-year-old from Cheadle, posted a consistent set of scores across the 13 races including four race wins, heading into the medal race trailing seven points behind Poland’s Pawel Tarnowski.

Image credit RS:X/Rory Ramsden.

With a resilient performance throughout the regatta, the Polish competitor dominated the medal race posting a bullet  to clinch the European title by some margin, with Martin joining him on the second step of the podium.

“It feels fantastic to win the silver medal!” said the 17-year-old Martin. “I am very pleased with my performance as I was very consistent across the week, which was key in winning the silver medal. I was also very pleased that when it was windy I was able to compete at the top of the fleet and finish within the top three as I am not usually the fastest in the breezy conditions.”

The 2011 Techno 293 Windsurfing World Champion and former U17 European Champion, continued: “Coming into the event my aim was to finish within the top five as I have placed in this event before. The competition was tough and the conditions were hard as every race you had to work very hard, and everyone had a good standard of fitness, so it was difficult to match and beat that.”

Martin, along with Sills, will now head onto Dublin to join up with the RYA Volvo Team GBR squad in preparation for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships 2012, where Martin believes he has gained a useful insight into his competitors who he will be racing against next week in Dublin Bay.

“This week has been great preparation for the ISAF Worlds as I will be racing against most of the same people, so I have now learnt how to sail against them. A place where I can improve on is one-on-one racing, but my confidence is a lot higher now as I know I can do well and finish in the top three.”

In the girl’s RS:X event, Saskia Sills, who was competing internationally for the first time at an RS:X regatta, also had a consistent week not dropping out of the top five across the six days of racing. With first and second out of sight heading into the medal race, and the U17 European title in the bag with a day to spare, the 15-year-old had a fight on her hands against Basia Dmuchowska from Poland for the a place on the seniors podium.

After a stressful start to the medal race after suffering a brake to her batten, Sills refocused her attention and finished in sixth in front of her Polish rival which was enough to clinch a hard thought bronze medal. “I am very new to the RS:X board and one of the youngest in the fleet so to win the bronze medal and the U17 gold is such a good result for me. I have always looked up to the girls I raced this week thinking I would never be their standard, so it feels great,” said Sills.

“I went into the event with no expectations as it was a learning regatta for me going into the ISAF Youth Worlds. It was a very tough week as they weren’t our usual UK conditions so I was a bit out of my comfort zone. But when we did have some wind I was happy with my speed and my racing, it has given me confidence going over to Ireland, especially if we have some proper English weather.”

With Estonia being Sill’s first experience of competing on foreign waters on the RS:X board, the 15-year-old from Cornwall insists she has learnt a huge amount which she can take forward into future regattas.

“Dealing with the new equipment was a big learning curve at the event as it’s more of a physical class than the Techno. I also didn’t realise how much I had to eat to keep my energy levels high. I now have a clear nutritional strategy for the ISAF Worlds and have learnt that the front people are beatable.

“One of my goals was for my starts to improve throughout the week and they did so I’m really happy with them now. I’m pleased with my performance and how I’m sailing, over the next few days I will be getting used to venue out in Ireland and resting ready for the start of the ISAF Youth Words,” concluded Sills.

Fellow RYA Volvo Youth National Squad sailors Noelle Finch, Jade Rogers and Imogen Sills finished sixth, seventh and 10th respectively, with Imogen Sills finishing second in the U17 fleet. In the boys fleet, Joe Bennett was fifth, Stuart Hards 14th and Matthew Barton 20th. In the Under 17 boys fleet, Max Bushell finished fourth and Nat Warren was fifth.

For more information on the 2012 RS:X Open Youth European Windsurfing Championships and for full results visit the event website.

For details regarding the RYA Volvo Youth Racing programme or for further details on future regattas, please visit the Youth Racing section of the RYA Website

Nik Baker with Saskia Sills

Saskia Sills from Launceston has received a £1,500 OCS Young Sports Person Award in recognition of her outstanding sporting ability.  In the awards scheme, run in partnership with the charity SportsAid, windsurfer Saskia beat stiff competition to scoop the prize for the South West region for the second time in two years.

15 year old Saskia is currently World Champion in the Techno U17 category, having been U15 World Champion in 2009.  She won this recent title in July, at the 2011 Techno 293 Windsurfing World Championships in San Francisco, USA.  Since winning the regional OCS Young Sports Person Award in 2010, she has been working hard to build her strength and fitness with a local expert.

Saskia believes the money from the 2010 OCS award has helped her become the champion she is today:  “The money helped pay for strength and conditioning coaching with James Owen and his techniques have definitely helped me become a stronger competitor. The cost of competition this year alone is nearly £5,000, so it’s great to know that OCS is supporting me again.”

Like her idol, Usain Bolt, she hopes to become an Olympic medallist by qualifying for the Olympic Games in 2020.

Saskia, accompanied by her sister Imogen and her father joined the winners from nine other UK regions, four national disability category winners and the Young Star category winner at a celebratory event on 24^th November in the OCS Stand at the Kia Oval. Previous OCS Young Sports Person Award winners attended the event alongside a host of top sporting stars such as Wayne Otto OBE, Beth Tweddle MBE and Rory Underwood MBE.

Master of Ceremonies at the event was Claire Balding and Saskia was delighted to receive her award from windsurfing legend Nik Baker.

Kieran Martin

RYA Volvo National Youth and Junior Squad sailors secured a treble of gold medals at the 2011 Techno 293 Windsurfing World Championships on Sunday (24 July), with Kieran Martin, Saskia Sills, and Emma Wilson all claiming world titles in San Francisco, USA.

With blue skies and bright sunshine greeting the shores of San Francisco bay across the five days of racing, it was Cheadle’s Kieran Martin in the under-17 boy’s class who claimed back to back wins on the final day, clinching him the prestigious world title.

Martin started the Championships off slow and it was RYA National Junior Squad member Adam Purcell who led the charge in the early stages of the Championships, only to then fall behind towards the business end of the regatta. Martin took advantage with consistent top end results to take Gold and event victory while Macclesfield’s Purcell finished with a hard-fought silver medal.

Martin, RYA Volvo National Youth Squad sailor, commented: “It was a tough week of racing, especially with the strong tides but I am really pleased that all my hard work has paid off and I won – It feels brilliant!

“The conditions were ideal for me as we have been doing a lot of training in the stronger breeze, although the tides made it quite tiring and it took the first few days to get to grips with.”

Martin added: “Once I got into my stride and the results started to come, that’s when i really stared to enjoy the event. My strongest competition was by far my team mate Adam who won silver, although everyone who competed was of a good standard. We both receive really good coaching from our RYA coach Oli Woodcock which I guess is why the team did so well and won so many medals.

“I’m going to take a break now for a week or so and then start training for my next event. I’m sure the experience from winning the world title at this event will add to my performance at future events,” concluded Martin.

Meanwhile in the girl’s under-17 division, Launceston’s 15-year-old Saskia Sills and her twin sister Imogen Sills, flew the flag for Great Britain as they continued the British dominance with a gold and bronze medal respectively.

The medals were once again decided in the last race of the day with intense racing all week leading up to a finale finish. RYA National Junior Squad sailor Saskia clinched the world title by finishing second behind fellow GBR and Barrow-On-Humber team mate Emma Labourne in the final race of the regatta. Labourne finished seventh overall while Noelle Finch from Clevedon finished just behind Imogen Sills in fourth.

The third and final gold medal was sealed in the Under-15 girl’s class before the final day had even begun due to an array of outstanding performances by Dorset’s Emma Wilson throughout the Championships. In the same fleet, Emily Hall from Nottingham added to the British medal haul with a well-deserved bronze medal on the final day rounding off a fantastic event for Team GBR.

Duncan Truswell, RYA Youth Racing Manager, commented: “All in all this is an excellent performance for the British team at this regatta, the sailors held their nerve in a notoriously tricky venue to remain consistent and come out on top at the end of what I imagine was a long, tough week of competition.

“To be on top at both under 17 and under 15 level and to have other GBR sailors on the podium as well is a remarkable achievement for British Windsurfing, and particularly pleasing.

Truswell concluded: “Credit must go to the small pool of RYA Zone and National Junior Squad Coaches who I know have worked so hard with these guys over the winter months throughout the last few years. I very much look forward to seeing how they progress – I hope once they have had a bit of down time the passion will burn even brighter for these young sailors.”

For more information about the event and for full results visit www.techno293.org