Young powerboating enthusiasts collected on the banks of the Humber at Welton Sailing Club on Saturday (8th August) to take part in the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Final of the RYA Youth RIB Championship 2009. Icom UK are providing the Championship with a prize of a VHF radio, for use at the winner's chosen club.
Young powerboating enthusiasts collected on the banks of the Humber at Welton Sailing Club on Saturday (8th August) to take part in the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Final of the RYA Youth RIB Championship 2009. Icom UK are providing the Championship with a prize of a VHF radio, for use at the winner’s chosen club.11 competitors from the Club took part in the timed races around the slalom course. Many of the youngsters were new to the competition and took to handling the fast RIBs (rigid inflatable boats) with great enthusiasm and excitement. There were however, a few moments of drama when some of the more senior competitors got a little over enthusiastic with the throttle, but it only added to the fun and spectacle of the races!
Some of the youngsters had competed last year, but unfortunately due to holiday commitments, last year’s Junior winner Ross Flemming could not take part. This year’s Junior winner Alex Almond from Brough will be keen to follow in Ross’s footsteps and achieve a fourth or better in the national final. The youth class was won by 15 year old Daniel Walton from Goole, just 3 seconds ahead of second place Matthew Harrison from Swanland.
The Club had been worried that the recent influx of weed might render the lake unusable; but some fantastic work by a lot of Club members meant that the work of cutting back the weed was undertaken at the eleventh hour on the Friday before the event.
Welton Sailing Club Commodore, Peter Hirschfeld commented “I would like to thank the members for their selfless work in clearing the weed, enabling us to host the competition. Their hard work means that once again Welton will be represented in the national finals at Southampton, this year in both classes. Both Alex and Daniel acquitted themselves well and we are now looking for a club in the region with the necessary equipment to train them for the finals of the competition in September.”
RYA Youth RIB Championship results (to third place)
Juniors (8 to 12 years)1. Alex Almond Brough
2. Ellie Smith Hessle
3. Izzy Almond Brough
Youths (13 to 16 years)1. Daniel Walton Goole2. Matthew Harrison Swanland3. Helen Willmer Swanland
For more information about the RYA Youth RIB Championship, details on how to get involved and a list of regional finals scores visit www.rya.org.uk