Welsh sailing bosses have congratulated the team which won the Eric Twiname Championships, the first time Wales has ever won the overall team title against the other Home Unions and English zones.
Wales claimed the Shield Trophy in the competition’s 30th year as one of the premier tournaments for teams from all over the UK.
It took a superb team effort for Welsh sailors to score consistently across the board, with no individual finishing higher than third.
However Wales also picked up the Dinghy Trophy following an impressive performance in the Topper and RS Feva classes, with two sailors/teams in the top four in both.
“This was a tremendous effort by a group of young sailors who worked really well together to produce this superb result,” said RYA Cymru Wales chief executive Phil Braden.
“It follows on from Wales providing 60% of the British team for the optimist world championships, two sailors in the Olympics team this summer in Hannah Mills and Chris Grube, as well as Stephen Thomas in the Paralympics Team GB.
“While that is at the elite end, this success at a younger level shows there is a lot of really good coaching in Wales and also some talented young sailors who enjoy the sport and get so much out of it.
“We look forward to following their continuing progress in the future.”
RYA Cymru Wales high performance manager Paul Simes added, “The windsurfers did Wales proud at their 1st ever Eric Twiname Event and with most of them being available for coming years I look forward to them using this experience in the future.
“It was a very proud moment accepting the Trophy on behalf of all the team on Sunday afternoon.”
In the Topper class it was Lowri Boorman of Dale yacht club in Pembrokeshire who finished third, with Duncan Lloyd Evans of New Quay/Mumbles in fourth. Dale’s Jake Scott was 12th and along with Finn Robarts of Fishguard Bay YC finishing in 26th this allowed the team to win the Topper Team Prize.
Ewan Luke and Zac Blomeley from Llandudno finished third in the RS Feva class of boat, with club mates Eddie and Kevin Farrell in fourth. Amy Bale and Lucy Hughes from South Caernarvonshire were 14th overall and fifth females giving them 2nd in the RS Feva Team Prize.
The greatest consistency came in the Optimist class of boat. Ethan Kneale of Cardiff Bay was the top places Welsh sailor in 10th, but there were another six Welsh sailors in the top 21, Emily Cann, Ellie Thomas and Louis Matthew Ratner from Cardiff Bay, Tasmyn Green of Pwllheli, Robbie Smart from Pembrokeshire and Tata Steel’s Sophie Edwards. Cann and Thomas were third and fourth females respectively in 13th and 14th places overall. This consistency gave them 3rd in the Optimist Team Prize.
Wales also entered strong teams in all of the windsurfer sections for the first time, with Colwyn Bay’s Jake Wolgram 9th in the 6.8 class, with club-mates Jack Jones and Alexander Hopkins, along with Lucy Evans of Tata Steel and Matthew Millband also in the top 20.
Shayne Bevan of Tata Steel was 12th in the 7.8 windsurfing class, with Menai Dragons’ Elis-Glyn Jones in 14th.
Nell Pethig from North Wales was 10th overall in the 4.5 windsurfing class, 4th female, while Catrin Williams of Menai Dragons was best placed in the 5.8 class in 8th.
More about the Eric Twiname Trust – http://www.erictwinametrust.org/
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Photos details (L to R)
Benjamin Jukes-Bennett Llyn Brenig SC
Front Kevin Farrell Llandudno SC
Back Eddie Farrell Llandudno SC
Ewan Luke Llandudno SC
Zac Blomeley Llandudno SC
Lowri Boorman Dale YC
Finn Robarts Fishguard Bay YC
Duncan Lloyd-Evans Mumbles YC/New Quay YC