As a result of their 3rd place in last years British Keelboat League Finals, Marconi Sailing Club will participate in the Sailing Champions League at Sopot in Poland, June 15-18th.
The event in Poland is one of 3 qualifying events at which British clubs will race against winning teams from other European Nations Keelboat Leagues. The first event has already been sailed, and Strathclyde University returned home having finished in 10th place in their event, confirming that the competition is of a very high standard.
Club Commodore Richard Collis said, ‘We are extremely proud that our sailors have won selection to participate in the Sailing Champions League. It comes as a result of competing in the British Keelboat League every year since 2016 where each of our teams has benefitted from those that went before them.‘
Marconi’s team in Poland will be Dan Nickalls (helm), Jack Wardell (main), David Nickalls (trim) and Hannah Bard (bow) and they have already started their preparation for the event by competing in Winter Match Racing to sharpen up their boat on boat skills and test their understanding of umpire decision making which can influence the outcome in Keelboat League events.
‘We haven’t competed at this level before‘ said David, ‘and we’re looking forward to gaining more experience and improving further as a team‘ added Hannah.
Further training and racing weekends are planned for the team on the clubs fleet of SB20 Keelboats which will include Match Racing with the University of East Anglia, the club Keelboat Championships and the British Keelboat League event that Marconi will host on 3rd – 4th June. See info Here.
All four sailors who will represent Marconi in Poland, started sail training at the club in dinghies when they were younger and progressed to Keelboat racing as Marconi entered a youth team in the British Keelboat League. They themselves now act as mentors and role models to the younger sailors that follow in their wake and take the lead in driving Marconis Keelboat Academy. The Academy which has five SB20 Keelboats, provides a pathway for sailors to compete in Keelboats, breaking down the traditional barriers of entry to Keelboat racing.
The Marconi Keelboat Academy membership is open to sailors from other clubs that would like to progress from dinghy to Keelboat racing. Contact keelboats@marconi-sc.org.uk for further information.
