Sam Sills and Ali Masters 

GOLDEN GLORY FOR JUNIOR WINDSURF DUO

Team GBR is celebrating two more world champions after young windsurfers Sam Sills and Ali Masters swept to victory at the Techno 293 (T293) World Championships in Spain last week.

The talented duo led the way for the eight-strong RYA British team at the Formentera event both fending off strong challenges to take the Under 15s and Under 17s boys’ titles respectively.

T293 windsurfing forms part of the Olympic Pathway recognised by the ISAF, sailing’s international governing body, as the feeder class to RS:X windsurfing at Olympic and Youth level.

And with two junior World golds under their belts, 14-year old Sills from Launceston and Clevedon’s Masters, 15, are on course to follow in the footsteps of Skandia Team GBR’s Athens 2004 windsurfing bronze medallist Nick Dempsey.

The title was Masters’ second World crown, taking U15 glory two years ago and following it up with silver last year while it was a first World Championship medal for Sill.   

The British girls also showed that they could mix it on the World stage, Bude ’s Sophie Bailey, 15, claiming fifth spot in the Under-17 girls’ competition. Teammate Izzy Hamilton took eighth.

Oli Woodcock, RYA Techno National Junior Coach, admitted he was delighted with the team’s showing.

He said: “By taking gold in both age categories, Sam and Ali have broken all records for performance at Junior level in British windsurfing. The achievements of the whole team reflects the level of sailors being produced by the RYA’s Team15, Zone and National squads, which is a really exciting prospect for the future.”

In T293 racing, U17s are restricted to a maximum 7.8sqm sail size while the U15s do battle with sails no bigger than 6.8sqm.

Medals are decided on a points system, with gold going to the competitor with the lowest score after 12 races.

AN RYA initiative to attract and encourage youngsters in windsurfing, Team15 is a nationwide network of clubs giving windsurfers under the age of 15 the chance to have a great time and develop new skills every week.