London Youth Games 2018

London Youth Games 2018

On the weekend of the 24th and 25th July saw our DSWC Tower Hamlets Youth Racing Team descend upon Queen Mary SC, West London for the annual London Youth Games 2018. Of the ten eligible classes, we managed to enter eight of them. This meant the team had their work cut out, as each teams best eight results from the ten classes were to count towards the final results. The Tower Hamlets team, having medalled at every LYG in the past eight years, also meant the pressure was on!

Day One

Leila Moore stepped up to role as Team Manager, taking over from Iona Dixon who led the team to victory in 2017. Day one of the LYG saw the first set of class racing, this included; the Mixed Laser Pico, Male Topper 5.3, Female Topper 4.2 and Female Laser.

Debutants to the LYG were Ella and Thomas in the Laser Pico, who sailed a very consistent set of races and finished a very respectable 6th place overall, including a race win in the series. Also debuting at his first LYG was Luke sailing in the Topper 5.3. In a fleet dominated by Zone and Intermediate Squad Topper sailors, Luke finished in 10th place, a great result considering it was his first offsite competition. Next was Abigail in the Topper 4.2 who was looking to improve on her 2nd place at last years LYG. Abigail impressed with a run of 1st and 2nd place finishes to leave her comfortably at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day, winning gold in the Topper 4.2 class. Finally Demi, LYG regular for the past few years but debutant to the Laser class had her work cut out as it was her first time out in a Laser! Not phased by this, Demi showed that skill and technique is transferable between different boats and sailed her way to victory in the Laser class. A fantastic team effort on the first day of the LYG, set the rest of the team up in good stead for day two.

Day Two

Day two of the LYG saw the RS Feva, Female Topper 5.3, Male Topper 4.2 and Male Laser classes compete. Sunday dawned to be another light wind day, but the team arrived ready to go afloat and build on the success of day one.

Siblings Barney and Toby teamed up in the RS Feva Class, having only sailed the Feva a few times before, but rearing to go for the first race. In the biggest fleet of the weekend of 18 boats, Barney & Toby finished in 11th place, keeping the teams dream of a podium finish well within sight. Jack was representing the team in the Topper 4.2 class at his second LYG. A consistent set of results left Jack just out of the podium places in 4th place, but as all of the teams results were to count, it was again a vital low score to count towards the overall placings. The two remaining team members were Sophie in the Topper 5.3 and Jay in the Laser. Both members of LYG teams from previous years with experience on their side, they both managed 2nd places in their respective classes, topping off a great overall set of results for the weekend.

The Tower Hamlets team once again performed exceptionally well, and sailed their way to 2nd place overall! Another great result for the team, who have now finished in a podium position in each of the last nine years. The team were just a few points off of top spot, but put in a fantastic performance considering they didn’t have a full team. Well done team!

The team will be back next year no doubt in an attempt to reclaim top spot!