A Warsash teenager is to represent Great Britain in the Youth World Championships later this summer – the biggest event for sailors at youth level.
Tim Riley and Luke Burywood during the youth national championships
Tim Riley and Luke Burywood from Basingstoke won the RYA Youth National Championship and have been selected for the RYA Volvo Team GBR in the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship 2013 in Cyprus in a 420 class.
Tim and Luke, who have only been sailing together for seven months, sailed a consistent series in really challenging easterly winds in Largs, Scotland.
They initially held first place for the first two days but lost it midweek as the winds became very light and shifty.
On the penultimate day they put together three good races counting only 10 points in more stable winds and led the 38 boat fleet by seven points going into the final day.
The final day started with more easterly winds. Despite the winds shifting 20 to 40 degrees and changing in strength from four to 14 knots, the pair, both aged 16, sailed another consistent race finishing fifth – which was enough to win the event by four points.
Tim and Luke were subsequently selected for the youth world championships, which is leading the selection series for the 420 World Championship to be held in Valencia, Spain and the Junior Europeans to be held in Pwllheli, North Wales, during the summer.
Tim said: “It’s a good feeling. Happy to beat everyone in the UK and now we just have to do it at the worlds.
“I was a little bit more relaxed than I thought I would be because we had a seven point lead and we knew if we sailed as well as we had during the week then we would have it.
“It is a real honour to be selected for the team. It has been a hard fought battle with our friends to get here so it’s just a sense of relief to be here now.
“It will definitely be a real honour to follow in some great sailors’ and Olympians’ footsteps but the real measure of us will be how we perform abroad and how we perform at the ISAF Youth Worlds so this is really only half the journey.”
Luke added: “In terms of preparation for the event I think we have just got to go back to the drawing board and see what we did well at this event and what we didn’t do so well and just go from there and see what we have to work on.”
They are part of a 12 strong British team that are looking to retain the ISAF Youth Worlds Nations Trophy at Limassol, Cyprus from the July 11 to July 20, which Great Britian won at Dublin Bay.