Youth

The Royal London Yacht Club's Etchells youth academy has quickly become recognised as one of leading keelboat programs in the UK for talented young sailors. By granting teams between the ages of 18 and 29 the use of an Etchells for the duration of a racing year, the academy seeks to help youth sailors transition from junior dinghy classes into keelboats.

With past alumni having gone onto the America's cup, Volvo Ocean race and other high performance sailing teams the academy has a proven track record for producing excellent sailors. Many youth sailors have also remained within the class, sailing for Etchells owners and running their own campaigns.

More recently, reciprocal arrangements with international Etchells classes, most notably the American fleet, has seen youth teams sent abroad to compete in major events, including the World Championships.

Before selection is made over a trials weekend, a series of 4 training camps run by the class association allow prospective teams to get used to the boat whilst enjoying World class coaching from current professional Etchells sailors. Whilst optional, the training weekends are highly recommended and vastly improve a teams chances of selection.

In the past 7 years over 400 youths have been through the programme.

If you would like some more information or to express your interest in the Academy please get in touch with head coach David Bedford on bedfordd@hotmail.co.uk.

Last updated 17:05 on 8 August 2021