Another week and more success by our youth sailors on the international racing scene.  At the ILCA Under 21 Worlds held at Dublin Bay in Ireland both our men’s and women’s representatives produced podium results.  In the ILCA 7, Isaac Schotte finished strongly on the last day of racing with a 1 and 8 to finish second in the fleet of 139 competitors while in the ILCA 6, Frances Beebe could not have had a better last day scoring two 1st’s to end up third overall in the 73 boat fleet.  Conditions were tough throughout with either consistent strong onshore or strong and gusty offshore shifty conditions coupled with strong tides and currents.  Racing was close across all fleets with mistakes leading to big swings in the placings at the end of each day, the only exception being the aptly named female Dutch sailor Roos Wind who led the regatta throughout.  

Both Isaac and Frances have been recipients of funding through both of the Squadrons youth support programmes, the Wyuna and John Harrison Foundations, which has helped them train, compete and succeed in their sailing pathway. Along the way they continue to sail with and mentor our current group of younger sailors when they are in town.  

Combined with Rory Meehans recent success in winning the iQFoil U19 worlds and Mara Stransky’s recent 2nd at the ILCA 6 Open Europeans, these results bode well for the future of high-level sailors coming through our development programmes into the future. The potential for our sailors to be on the front stage (and podium!) in 2032 is looking bright.