Luke has been attending the Saturday Morning Sailing Club at SYCSA for the last 3 seasons, since he was 8 years old. He is now working toward his Stage 4 of the RYA Youth Scheme having gained the first 3 Stages through training at Fowey in Cornwall and with SYCSA at Durleigh reservoir.
In 2008, SYCSA and Durleigh SC began a Friday evening Race Club and took a small group of sailors to the RYA South West Zone Squad Championship event at Chew Valley SC in September. Luke went along in an Optimist but unfortunately no racing occurred due to a complete lack of wind and a lot of fog!
This experience was enough to give Luke the racing bug and determined to get himself a Topper with diligently saved up pocket money. By January 2009 he was the proud owner of a second hand race rigged Topper.
Finding out about the various routes open to a young sailor for getting into race sailing is a complicated process but after some research Luke and his Dad decided Luke would follow the Topper South West Traveller series of events through 2009. There are 9 open regional events in the year. Usually the races are on a Sunday but sailors can also take advantage of the specialised Topper training provided on the Saturdays prior to the races and Luke as been making the most of the training on offer.
The first 3 events this year have been at Cotswold SC, Chew Valley SC and Saltash SC. At all of these there have been some fierce winds sometimes gusting up to Force 6/7. Very challenging for a sailor new to Topper sailing and certainly racing. Needless to say Luke, being a very light 10 year old, has become quite familiar with the underside of his boat! Challenging for sure but he has learned a lot, made some new friends and had great fun in the process.
The latest race was held at Sidmouth on 14th June and it was Luke's best performance so far. 4 races were held over the day with Luke's best result being 14th out of a field of 25. Not bad for only his 4th event!
Luke looks forward to the rest of the season and hopes to
attend a couple of National Events as well as enter the South West Zone Squad
Championships in September 2009 at Weymouth so he can see where the Olympics
will be held. His sights are set on the Olympic dream!