on the water
RACING NEWS Youth training / Kite foiling success
Juniors test the water
A
new scheme to kickstart junior racing got under way at the end of
2020, with the start of new Regional Training Group (RTG) sessions around the English regions. The home countries also started their training programmes for young sailors. The groups are aimed at
reinvigorating junior racing by placing more emphasis on regional and club racing in order to limit travel time and costs. They’ll deliver national- level coaching regionally to give young sailors the skills they need to transition into youth classes, and prepare the most experienced for international competition. After a challenging year,
sailors and their parents welcomed the on-water coaching despite limited shelter from the elements due to Covid-19 restrictions. However, everyone adapted well to a new way of learning. Coaches briefed sailors via online calls so they could arrive ready to launch. Debriefs also took place online, with videos, photos and other content posted into an online learning network set up by the RYA. Coaching is delivered by a
team of experienced coaches supported by the RYA coach development experts to deliver the best training possible. There are RTGs for the RYA- recognised Optimist, Topper, Feva and Techno junior classes. Weekend training camps are hosted at clubs within the regions and Home Countries. They’ll resume as soon as lockdown restrictions allow.
To find out more, please
contact your Regional Performance Manager
Ellie Aldridge switched from a 49erFX to kite foiling – and became European champion!
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Top award for UK kite foilers International success rewarded by UK Sport
T
he British Sailing Team’s kite foil racers rounded 2020 off by winning a prestigious UK Sport award in recognition of their success over the past two years. The Formula Kite Mixed Relay team scooped the award for the Biggest Turnaround or Breakthrough in High Performance Sport at the annual UK Sport PLx Awards in November, which celebrates achievement in elite sport. Kite foil racing was selected for the
Paris 2024 Olympics in November 2018, but even before then the British Sailing Team had launched its #kite4gold programme to discover talented female athletes capable of bringing home gold. Joining forces with UK Sport, the English Institute of Sport and the British Kitesports Association, the British Sailing Team brought together an impressive group of young female athletes under the expert tutelage of Jonnie Hutchcroft. Within a year of the project launching, dinghy sailor-turned-kite foil racer Ellie Aldridge had been crowned European champion and her teammates – Katie Dabson, Lily Young, Maddy Anderson and Jemima Crathorne – had established themselves as world-class athletes.
The female riders were joined on
the team by Connor Bainbridge and brothers Guy and Olly Bridge, already world-renowned riders.
‘The introduction of kite foil racing
to the Olympics has brought a host of new and interesting challenges to an established and mature programme,’ said Mark Nicholls, the British Sailing Team’s kite foil racing programme leader. ‘The way the team has stepped forward to accept this is hugely inspirational and shows the strength and bravery of the riders and support staff.’ The British Sailing Team was also nominated for two other awards. The #SailFromHome project, an online learning initiative from the British Sailing Team and British Youth Sailing launched at the start of the first lockdown, was shortlisted for the Innovation award. In the Collaboration and Team
Working category, Kate Eddy, the British Sailing Team’s Head of Performance Support, and Pete Allam, CEO of Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, were shortlisted in recognition of their work to allow training to resume quickly and safely after the first lockdown.
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