Yeadon Sailors at the 420 Worlds









The British Team



Attached is the report that Yeadon Saliors Matthew and Ben sent back to Crewsaver, who kindly sponser them, after a very competitive 420 World Championships in Spain. "The 2013 420 World Championships were held at the Real Club Nautico Valencia, Spain. Team GBR arrived at the venue a few days early for some pre event training and acclimatisation before the ever rigorous measurement process and fierce competition that would follow. At the opening ceremony where the 27 nations came together to start the event, Ben, as the youngest member of the team, had the honour of being the team GBR flag bearer after which there were great opportunities to talk with other competitors. After placing 7th boy boat in the qualifying series back in England to grab the last place in the team, we had agreed between us and our coaches that ,for us, this would be a “process regatta” in which we would ensure that all of our thought processes and basic techniques were right and not focus too much on our results (as difficult as that may be!). After the three days of qualifying, we were placed in bronze fleet which was slightly frustrating as we only missed out on silver fleet by 6 points – a tiny margin considering the tight nature of the racing. Despite only just missing out on silver fleet, we were determined on performing as well as we possibly could in bronze which we did by going through all the basic processes again and ensuring that our strategy stayed simple. In the three days of racing which followed qualification to conclude the event, we managed to post some good, consistent results including a race win and a second. We finished third in the fleet earning ourselves a bronze medal. We were quite happy with this result, especially as we returned home as the 4th boy boat after only getting 7th in the selectors. Now we go to fly the Crewsaver flag in the 420 nationals and Junior European Championships in Pwllheli, Wales – using what we have learned at the World Championships to move forward." Well done Matt and Ben from every body at Yeadon and best of luck in Pwllheli ! For more details of the Crewsaver range of clothing and sailing equipment please see their website http://www.crewsaver.co.uk/