Brigg windsurfer George Bowles admitted he learned some valuable lessons as he pulled off one of the shocks of the Championships in sailing to RS:X class glory at the RYA Volvo Youth National Championships on the West Coast of Scotland last week.

Despite having only progressed from the Bic Techno board to the bigger RS:X last September, the 17-year-old from Worlaby showed he is definitely one to watch for the future as he sailed 2008 RS:X Youth European silver medalist Ali Masters into second place.

With unpredictable and often gale force winds making sailing impossible on the final three days of the five-day event in Largs, both boys finished tied on exactly the same points and with exactly the same scores from their five races.

But, Bowles landed the top spot on account of beating Masters, 17, in the fifth, and what turned out to be final, race.

Bowles said: “It was a fascinating few days but with the wind the way it was in the end it made the final result easy. Ali Masters is a fantastic sailor but I felt coming into the event that there was no-one I couldn’t beat in a race and it is hard is think of someone as being unbeatable.

I was just really pleased to be able get enough good scores early in the week to be in the position I was in when the wind arrived. My goal for the week was just to try to do the basics right and reinforcing the importance of consistency early in an event is one of the biggest lessons I learned during the week.”

Bowles’ victory now means he joins a band of elite sailors who have won RYA Youth National titles, including three-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie and all three of the famed Yngling ‘Blondes in a Boat’.

For full results and a list of winners visit the RYA website.