Students win RYA sailing Championships

Two students from the Stamford Schools have won the RYA Women's Team Racing National Championships.Year 11 students Isabel Leetch and Ellie Hattam represented the Rutland Sailing Club Youth Team, which also includes team Captain and former SES Sailing Captain, Alice Lucy (now Sailing Captain at Loughborough University).The Championships, previously postponed due to Covid-19, involved 10 teams and were held across two days at Rutland Sailing Club.Saturday's event saw a round-robin, with all teams racing against each other; the Rutland Youth team emerged as the only unbeaten team, with 100% wins, guaranteeing their place in the knock-out semi-finals and finals planned for Sunday.Rutland Youth were declared undisputed 2021 Women's National Champions on Sunday, when further racing was cancelled due to no wind. The team beat alumni teams from Oxford, Cambridge, and London universities, as well as a scratch team of their own Rutland mums.Stamford's Sailing Coach, Mr N Neve, said: "A few years ago our students started racing at University competitions, and were initially awed by their older opponents. Now, even though they have only recently completed their GCSEs, they will race anyone! We are fortunate to have such a centre of excellence on our doorstep at Rutland Sailing Club, with children from a wide mix of local schools, and great support from parents."In July, students from the Schools are looking forward to entering two teams (Rutland Youth and Stamford School) into the British Schools Dinghy Racing Association national championships at Bough Beech reservoir. They will then continue their training in preparation for the RYA National Youth Team Racing championships in Oxford in October, of which they are the current title holders - having won in 2019.For more news on sailing at Stamford, please click here.