OnBoard Champion of Champions at PSP Souhampton Boat Show

Champion of Champions OnBoard festival showdown © RYA

Youngsters hit the water at PSP Souhampton Boat Show for Champion of Champions OnBoard festival showdown

Sixteen young sailors took to the water at the PSP Southampton Boat Show last weekend (Sunday 18 September) to put their sailing skills to the test in the ‘Champion of Champions' OnBoard Festival.

The youngsters who have all learnt to sail with the RYA OnBoard scheme braved a variety of weather conditions from bright sunshine to thundery rain showers, to take part in some fun team racing. They were competing in two OnBoard teams Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Hamble River Sailing Club, Hill Head Sailing Club, Spinnaker Club and Southampton Water Activity Centre (SWAC) joined forces to compete as team Hampshire whilst the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and Brading Haven Yacht Club represented the Isle of Wight.

"It's amazing to see kids from two OnBoard areas competing against each other today" said Andy Hooper, RYA Regional Development Officer for the South & South East Region.

"It is great to see how the kids have progressed throughout the season at the final festival for both these regions. They are really embracing their skills especially having been given the chance to get out on the water at the Southampton Boat Show."

Once back on shore after escaping the rain and thunder it was finally time to announce the results. Team Isle of Wight were crowned the winners of the Champion of Champions OnBoard Festival 2011.

Alex, 9, Royal Victoria Yacht Club said: "We had a really really good day sailing and I didn't mind the wind at all. I won my race so I was really happy but I also enjoyed having fun with my team mates. It was only the second time I had tried to sail a Tera but I really enjoyed it."

The event was organised by OnBoard Development Officers Susie Moore (Isle of Wight Region) and Samantha Jones (Hampshire Region).

Susie said: "We are delighted to be able to bring youngsters together from both the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight OnBoard regions and we are celebrating three years of OnBoard across the counties.

"We would like to say a huge thank you to Tim from Hamble River Sailing Club for being race officer for the day and to Rockley Watersports and SWAC for donating the boats.The kids have had a fantastic day and even after being called in due to thunder, they still have huge smiles on their faces."

Run by the RYA, OnBoard is a grass roots programme which introduces sailing and windsurfing to young people aged 8 to 18, through schools, youth groups and training centres.

Over a ten year period OnBoard aims to introduce a minimum of 500, 000 children to sailing and windsurfing in the UK, converting over 10% of them into regular participants. So far it's nicely on track.

For more information about how to get involved in sailing visit the RYA's website www.rya.org.uk or the OnBoard website www.ruob.co.uk