Bic Techno Racing: Rowena Conway

The RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships traditionally mark the end of the Junior racing season and the start of a hard winter’s training. They are a key event for any young sailor wishing to be selected for the RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country squads, which are the first step on the pathway to Olympic Classes sailing.

With all nine Zone and Home Country Championship events sponsored by Volvo Car UK for the fourth successive year running, each event provides the country’s most promising young sailors the perfect opportunity to pit their skills against the best of the best in their respective Zone or Home Country and the chance to demonstrate to the RYA High Performance Managers and coaches that they’ve got what it takes to be selected for the RYA Zone and Home Country squads.

In addition to the RYA High Performance Managers, sailors will have the chance to showcase their talents in front of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailors who will be visiting eight venues across the course of the two-day regatta, to inspire the next generation of British sailors.

Racing will take place across the nine RYA recognised Junior dinghy and windsurfing classes including the Mirror, Optimist, Topper, RS Feva, Cadets and the windsurfers on the Bic Techno using the open 4.5, and 5.8 rigs, and the Techno 6.8s and Techno 7.8s – classes vary according to each venue.

In an effort to join up the RYA’s participation development activities and the junior racing programmes for the first time for most of the Zones, the RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country events will offer ‘novice’ regatta fleets for Toppers and Optimists. This is an event for sailors to set themselves an end-of-year goal after training and racing at their local club or RYA training centre during the summer months. It will give young sailors a good learning experience to help start them along the pathway to success.

Duncan Truswell, RYA Youth Racing Manager, commented: “The RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships is always an insightful weekend to benchmark the quantity and quality of sailors coming through from clubs and vying to start their journey within the RYA and class associations regional and national racing and race training systems.

“I am delighted to see that the numbers are up once again and I am sure the coaches and High Performance Managers this weekend will take note of the ever improving level of preparation and competency demonstrated by the sailors, which continues to rise thanks to the great work done by predominantly volunteer coaches and instructors within our network of clubs which often goes largely un-noticed.

“I would like to once again record the thanks of the RYA to the club coaches and instructors, as well as the parents for supporting the young sailors progression in this fantastic sport. I would also like to recognise the support of Volvo Car UK which gives the event greater profile, enables us to deliver bigger and better event experiences for the sailors and provides real inspiration and legacy through the provision of Team Volvo sailors fresh from their successes of 2012. I only wish I could attend all nine and get first hand a real flavour of the enthusiasm and inspiration the sailors will enjoy!”

Nikki Rooke, Head of Public Affairs, Events and Sponsorship for Volvo Car UK, added: “It has been an incredibly exciting summer for British sailing and it’s great to see the morale is still going strong. It looks set to be a fantastic weekend at the RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships and I have no doubt the Team Volvo sailors’ presence at eight of the venues will help to inspire the next generation of sailing talent.”

The 2012 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Countries Championships will be staged at the following venues:

·         The RYA Volvo South Zone Championships – Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, Dorset

·         The RYA Volvo South West Zone Championships – Chew Valley Sailing Club, Bristol

·         The RYA Volvo South East Zone Championships – Weir Wood Sailing Club, East Sussex

·         The RYA Volvo East Zone Championships– Alton Water Sailing Club, Suffolk

·         The RYA Volvo West Zone Championships– Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club, Greater Manchester

·         The RYA Volvo North Zone Championships – Rutland Sailing Club, Rutland

·         Volvo Welsh Youth & Junior Championships – New Quay Sailing Club, Ceredigion

·         RYA Scotland Volvo Youth and Junior Championships – Largs Sailing Club, Largs

·         RYANI Volvo Youth Championships and NI Schools Cup In association with McCready Sailboats – Ballyholme Yacht Club, Co Down

For further information and for the full set of results from the 2012 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships visit the event website.

Noelle Finch

Noelle Finch clinched victory in the RS:X windsurfing U17 fleet on the final day of racing at the 2011 RS:X Youth World Windsurfing Championships on Friday (28 October), with further podium glory for British sailors in the RS:X and Techno 293 classes taking the GBR medal tally to five in Cagliari, Sardinia.

Over the course of the five day regatta (24-28 October) which witnessed 115 RS:X  boards take to the waters in strong winds and big waves, Noelle Finch was in fine form from the word go in the RS:X class. The 16-year-old from Clevedon, North Somerset posted some impressive results in the 39 strong female fleet, in which 22 raced as Under-17s.

A continuous battle between Finch and Shani Rottenberg from Israel was evident across the ten races which took place. However, the GBR youngster who previously won the U17 title at the RS:X Europeans last month, went into the final day with a six point cushion on her closet rival in the hunt for the U17 gold medal.

With Rottenberg (Israel) the only girl capable of taking gold from Finch’s grasp, the RYA Volvo National Junior Squad windsurfer did enough to finish ahead of Rottenberg to add the U17 RS:X Youth World Windsurfing title to her ever growing trophy cabinet. Finch finished a credible sixth overall in the RS:X female fleet.

Noelle Finch

The 2011 RS:X Youth World U17 Champion commented: “After winning the U17 European title in Bulgaria in September, my goal for the Worlds was to finish in the top 50% of the fleet, so I was ecstatic with the end result.

“There was a real mix of conditions throughout the week and the competition was stiff. Racing the older U19 girls was a real challenge and the U17 girl from Israel was also a strong competitor for me. I had, however, raced some of them at the Europeans so I sort of knew what I was up against. To be finishing races in such challenging conditions and to be competing at the top end of the fleet with competitors a lot older than myself was very pleasing.

Finch concluded: “The medal race was great and my main aim was to keep in front of the U17 girl from Israel and hopefully maintain a solid performance and my position in the U19 fleet. Having this event later on in the year has helped me to create some clear goals for the winter training, ready for the next season!”

Sam Sills

In the male RS:X class, Skandia Team GBR Transitional Squad member Sam Sills sailed a fantastic race on the final day to finish third in the medal race to pinch the final spot on the podium in front of Frenchmen Fabian Pic. Sills started the week very strong posting a first and a number of seconds, however due to a lack of consistency dropped out of the hunt for top spot after a near perfect week from Pawel Tarnowski (POL) who claimed event victory and the 2011 RS:X Youth World Windsurfing title.

Continuing the GBR medal haul was Joe Bennett in the RS:X U17 fleet. Italian Mattia Camboni (ITA 88) took the title having had a very good start to the week which gave him a lead which Bennett could not quite make up. The 16-year-old from Rotherham who is a member of the RYA Volvo National Youth Squad finished second in the U17 fleet while Frenchman Dante Chaipello was third.

2011 Techno 293 Windsurfing World Champion, Kieran Martin, finished in fourth, four points of a medal position. Usually a regular on the podium, Martin struggled at times with the strong breeze and was unable to find the form which has seen him do so well in recent regattas.

2011 ISAF Youth Worlds representative Jade Rogers was also in the mix of things adding to her 2011 RYA Volvo Youth National Championship title with the U17 bronze medal. One of the top performers at the ISAF Youth Worlds in July, the youngster from Cheadle (Staffs) suffered an injury to her foot on day three of the regatta and was rushed to hospital for treatment, ending her hunt for the glory which looked promising.

The Techno 293 2011 European Championships welcomed 249 competitors across the U17 and U15 fleets. On the penultimate day of the Championship it was all to play for across all four fleets with medals there to be won and lost.

In the U15 female fleet, Emma Wilson who is the current Techno 293 U15 World Champion, was on fire across the five day regatta posting a record number of bullets to finish 16 points ahead of second place to take the 2011 Techno 293 European U15 title in emphatic style.

The young windsurfer from Christchurch, Dorset was the only winner to finish the regatta with a clear lead over the evenly matched silver and bronze medallists in the Techno 293 class. With a similar performance at the Techno 293 Junior Windsurfing World Championships in San Francisco back in July, Wilson is certainly one to keep any eye on for the future.

To round off  what was an impressive week for the GBR team, 15 year-old Emma Labourne from Barrow-on-Humber, North Lincolnshire clinched a well-deserved bronze medal in the U17 Techno 293 female fleet and was unlucky not be placed higher after finishing level on points with the second placed Italian and three points of Israel’s Shahar Tibi who took gold.

Oli Woodcock, National Windsurfing Coach, commented: “It has been a fantastic week in terms of the conditions and performances from our young sailors. We have had good breeze and big waves allowing for some really competitive racing to take place.

“It is a great achievement to win five medals at a major international event like this. Noelle did extremely well and for me gave a stand out performance which led to her winning a gold medal. Sam also did particularly well to fight back in the medal race and showed great mental strength and determination to win his place on the podium. It is also great to see Joe Bennett medal which is long overdue.

“As well as the GBR sailors who did medal, we had a number of other GBR members who were competing who put in very strong performances. We have great strength in depth within the squad which is great to see. It was unfortunate about Jades injury on day three, she has shown real potential over the summer period and will defiantly be back up there come the start of next season.”

Woodcock concluded: “As well as the medals, there was a lot of lessons learnt which is always beneficial for the sailors future development. All in all it was a pleasing week and a yet again a great achievement for British Windsurfing. We need to go away now and work hard over the winter months and come back event better in 2012!”

For more information about the event and for full results please visit www.windsurfing-cagliari2011.eu

And here’s the final day’s racing and prizegiving from the Euro Techno Championships…

Just another ‘day at the office’, not only for the class president, but also for the Techno kids as well. One design equipment under 15, under 17 categories for kids and Techno open for anybody who wants to give it a try. For example a class president Ezio FERIN who was out there with another 248 competitors here in Cagliari, Sardinia. 3 races for each fleet, business as usual…

More at www.techno293.org

It all started with the great North Americans in Cozumel Mexico in February. Then Europeans in team racing in Palermo in May. Many national and international regattas and then the spectacular Worlds in San Francisco in July. But summer for the Techno kids isn’t over yet. It’s October and some parts of Europe are already covered in snow but ‘Techno endless summer’ still continues in Cagliari, Sardinia. Great location 250 kids again on the start. They will fight for the European titles. It’s sunny, it’s warm, wind is blowing. Everybody is excited and ready to have fun…

More at www.techno293.org

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

Saskia Sills flying the colour

David Wells of Waterhound.com reports from the fifth and final day of a spectacular 2011 Techno Windsurfing World Championships in San Francisco.

The final day was a full one with 2 course races and a long distance race on the agenda and the tension could be cut with a knife with multiple world titles up in the air. The long distance race is not part of the overall scoring but was a once in a life time opportunity for many, with the infamous island prison of Alcatraz serving as the leeward mark.

The last day of the regatta followed the trend of oscillating fog banks; one day it’s in, the next day it’s out. Today’s recipe was one filled with blue skies and bright sunshine and the usual 20 mph sea breeze filling up San Francisco Bay. And like all the days prior the current was flooding, which in San Francisco means the sailors must fight against it as they go upwind only to enjoy a high speed sleigh ride off the wind.

Kieran Martin (GBR 926) started off the regatta on a slow note but from there he only got faster quickly dialing in to what it takes to win in San Francisco. Martin swept the final day with back to back wins vaulting him to a world title. Martin’s teammate Adam Purcell (GBR 62) essentially sailed in the opposite direction of Martin. Purcell led the regatta in the early days of competition only to falter as the week went on. Purcell’s day 5 performance left the door open to Israel’s Bell Baz (ISR 619) to take his best shot at stealing away the second spot and Bell was up to the task putting up a 3-2 scoring line in the day’s final two races. With twelve races sailed however the sailors were able to throw out two of their worst scores which for Purcell happened to be the final two of the regatta. When the math was all tallied up Purcell took the second spot from Bell who settled for third in the Boys Under 17 division.  Your top 3 left to right Adam Purcell, Kieran Martin, Bell Baz.

Saskia Sills (GBR 956) continued the strong British performance at these worlds bookending the Under 17 Boys title with victory in the Under 17 Girls. The action in this division was absolutely thrilling with the world title coming down to the final race. American Marion Lepert (USA 143) stumbled in the day’s final race when she had a chance to lock up the world title. With that it was down to Lepert vs. Sills in a winner take all battle. Sills jumped off to a stellar start just behind the surging Emma Labourne (GBR 719) who had decided to put on the afterburners for her final shot at the race course. Labourne was on fire and Sills was riding her coat tails around the course with Lepert just within striking distance. As they came to the finish line Labourne took the win with Sills taking second and the world title that went with it. Lepert had been in third place the entire race but slightly understood the finish line allowing for Imogen Sills (GBR 561)to slip in to third place.  As it all wrapped up it was Saskia Sills taking first, Marion Lepert taking second, and Imogen Sills rounding out the top three. Pictured Left to right Marion Lepert, Saskia Sills, Imogen Sills.

France’s Julien Bouyer (FRA 192) simply dominated the Open Division only growing his lead on the day’s final two races. Teammate Marc Lavaud (FRA 434) showed he had the speed to beat Bouyer from time to time but the outcome was never seriously in question. Puerto Rico’s Alejandro Monllor’s (PUR 1) managed to hold on tight to third place but it was by the slimmest of margins as Japan’s Jun Ogawa (JPN 116) was doing all he could to dislodge Monllor from the final podium spot. The two sailors were locked up at 30 points each with the tiebreaker going in Monllor’s favor. Julien Bouyer, Marc Lavaud, and Alejandro Monllor wrap up the regatta 1-2-3. Japan’s Makiko Tanaka took home the title for the Open Division Women.

Britain’s Emma Wilson (GBR 961) had the World Title in the bag before the day even started but that doesn’t mean she slowed down any in the days final races. Shai Blank (ISR 951) sailed well all week and had it not been for a subpar, by her own standards, day one performance she would have had a legitimate shot at the title.  Emily Hall (GBR 714) gave it her best shot but in the end could not overtake the Blank’s consistent sailing. Eugenia Bologna (ITA 10) was in the hunt all week long but had no wiggle room on the throw outs leaving her in fourth place when it was all said and done.

Italian Mattia Onali (ITA 134) took the strategically safe route on the day in the Open Division. With the world title already in his back pocket sailing the final two races could only put himself at risk so he played it safe staying on the beach. Onali had been simply dominant in the final days reeling off 6 straight bullets to seal his title. Artiom Javadav (BLR 766) looked to have second place pretty well locked up but that was until Mikita Tsirkun (BLR 714) decided to go for broke and posted a 1-1 scoring line on the day. Javadav was up for the task however and covered Tsirkun at all turns to ensure his second place spot on the podium.

In the Raceboard action Switzerland’s Vincent Huegenin (SUI 9) was in control of his own destiny and he nearly cost himself the regatta. Argentine’s Fernando Consorte (ARG 155) saved his best performance for the end taking the final two bullets of the regatta. Consorte however needed help from Frenchmen  Jean Asia (FRA 171) in order to beat Huegenin but it was not to be. Huegenin took home top honors with Fernando Consorte in second and Jean Asia (FRA 171) in third.

The “Round the Rock” race is something of a tradition here in San Francisco with the first race dating 37 years ago to 1974. Now that some history. And now part of that history is Joris van Essen (NED 1111) who took the overall win. Julien Bouyer did likewise for the Open Men, while Jean Asia took top honors for the Raceboard Class. Sara Wennekes (NED 203) came out on top for the Girls.

The day concluded with a splendid prize giving ceremony where once again a heartfelt thanks was extended to the St Francis Yacht Club and the plethora of volunteers who have done everything from working the boats, to fixing boards, to helping the kids in and out of the water.  A major round of applause was bestowed upon Dennis Deisinger, the primary organizer and driving force for pulling off this very successful event.

More thanks to the support of the Events Sponsors, Zico Coconut Water, The International Windsurfing Association, The Windsurfing Task Force, The Sports Basement, The ISAF, Bic Windsurfing, Waterhound.com, GU Energy, and US Windsurfing.

Last but not least has to be made for the solid performance of an incredibly professional race committee. Recently anointed St Francis Race head Robbie Dean and his team pulled off an exceptional regatta. The linchpin of their success was the on the water performance PRO Darren Rogers. Both of these guys will be first in line to tell you they were only as good as the top notch teams they had working for them.

Complete Results: www.sailingresults.net

Day 5  Photo Gallery: waterhound.smugmug.com

Awards Ceremony Photos: waterhound.smugmug.com

Techno European Team Champions: Eugeny Ayvazyan, 
Andrey Zagaynov 
and Stefaniya Elfutina

The 2011 Techno European Open Team Racing Championships got underway on the 18^th May in Mondello, Sicily. This championship was once again part of the world famous World Festival on the Beach organised by the Albaria Club.

Nine teams lined up to challenge for the title – 2 teams from each of Great Britain, Israel, Italy, and Spain, plus one team from Russia. With this increased team entry it was decided to run one 9 team round robin, to be followed later in the week by semi finals and a final. three ‘flights’ were completed – no team was dominant, the first day finished with 4 teams tied at the top – each with two race wins – Spain 1, Great Britain 2, Russia and Israel 2.

Six flights were completed on day two – and Italy 1 went into the final day’s racing as favourites, having won all of their matches in the round robin. This team is from Cagliari, Sardinia, and coached by Mauro Covre who is also national coach for the Italian team. However it is anyone’s guess who they might meet in the final as two very strong teams – Russia and Israel 1 – went head to head in the other semi final.

In the end, meeting in the finals were Russia and Italy 1. Final positions after the close of racing were – Russia (1st); Italy 1 (2nd); Israel 1 (3rd); Israel 2 (4th)

Full report, results, video and photo gallery  – http://www.techno293.org/page0145v01.htm

World Festival on the Beach website – http://www.wwfestival.com/wwf/default1.htm

Priorities … It is paradise here but sometimes even here things go wrong. who is gonna help when there is no superman around? A Real HERO from techno 293 fleet.

Video by Patrik Pollak