Frantic, thrilling and always a guaranteed crowd pleaser, the ISAF Team Racing World Championships get underway in Spain this Sunday with three teams flying the Great Britain flag.
And for the first time ever the regatta comprises an Under 21 competition meaning the cream of current British university team racing talent will also get a chance to shine on the international stage.
Staged at the Real Club Nautico Gandia in Valencia, each nation can enter up to a maximum of three teams, with six sailors crewing three 420 dinghies per team. RYA Team GBR will have two teams going head-to-head in the Open competition while one team will do battle in the new age-group event.
With selectors keen to keep sailor development at the top of the agenda, only one sailor, Southampton-based Hamish Walker, took part in the last World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island two years ago while Exeter, Bristol and Warwick universities can boast sailors in Team GBR’s U21 boats.
Team racing is not about being first past the post, it is about the three boats in each team outwitting and outmanoeuvring the boats of other nations to gain a superior overall standing. Accordingly the event is considered a true test of a crew’s boat handling skills, decision making abilities and tactical nous.
Team leader Alan Guy admits the Team Racing World Championships are the perfect platform for sailors to really show their mettle.
He said: “We have three very strong teams going to Spain we are definitely going for gold in both the Open and Under 21 events. The competition to represent the UK was fierce and very close. As always the Americans will be the teams to beat in the Open event, although the current World champions did not make the USA selections.
“The Under 21 event is a bit of an unknown, but the training through the summer has improved their team racing skills significantly. They were already good sailors, which is also very important. I’d like to thank some of our recently retired worlds sailors who helped with the selection & training, in particular Steve Tylecote, Dom Johnson & Peter Barton who is also coming to Spain as Chief Coach.”
Team GBR’s squad of 18 were chosen at two selection camps held at Rutland in March following development training during the winter.
Racing starts in Valencia on Tuesday 25 September with finals and prize-giving bringing the Championships to a close on Saturday 29 September.
The teams: (where from in brackets)
GBR1 ? Andrew Cornah (Wirral), Ben Field (Sevenoaks), Hamish Walker (Scotland), Leo Dixon (Wirral), Phillippa Girling (Norwich), Tom Foster (Oxfordshire).
GBR2 ? Andrew Bryson (Wirral), Georgina Corlett (Wirral), Matthew Findlay (Southampton), Nicola Russell (Oxfordshire), Susan Short (Sevenoaks), Thomas Hebbert (Sevenoaks).
GBR U21 ? Elliott Parsons (Cirencester, Exeter Uni), Ian Robertson (Avon, Bristol Uni), James Goss (Basingstoke, Warwick Uni), Maria Stanley (Oxford, Bristol Uni), Oliver Mulcahy (West Sussex, Warwick Uni), Stephen Videlo (Suffolk, Exeter Uni).