Conditions were difficult all week across the 15 race series with the boys having to contend with strong winds and big waves as well as competing against the 61 other boats. The Mirror class is fairly unique as the boats are raced equally by junior, youth and adult sailors alike, but then to make things difficult the fleet included a number of Olympic and professional sailors.
Matthew Foster, in his second year of sailing, came second in the Youth Category (U 18) crewing Ed Grayson of Beaver SC. They came 19th overall and their best result was a 6th in one race.
Buoyed by a great result at the Europeans Championships in Ireland over the summer Matthew and Ben Lulham Robinson had secret hopes of doing well in Australia too. At 13 and 12 they were one of the youngest teams in the Championships and very soon they had most of the older sailors watching out for them. They were extremely consistent, 9 races out of the 15 sailed were top 10 finishes, with their best result being a 4th. By the end of the week they had a huge lead in the Junior Category (U 16) and were 10th overall. The results were so tight in the overall standings above them that they could have been 8th if results had been marginally different on the windy last day. However all in all it was a great result and there are not many sailors who can say they are European and now World Junior Champions ! Even fewer can say it when they are 13 and 12 !
A great series of results from the three of them, and an inspiration to us all. It just shows what you can do when you start sailing on a small Tarn in Yorkshire.
"Well Done Boys !" from every body at Yeadon SC
Also lots of credit is due to the support and help the boys have had from their parents, Steve and Sharon, Peter and Heather in all this to help them on their way.
(I had hoped to add some more photos from the last part of the event and the prize giving but none have appeared on the Worlds Website - Sorry !)
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