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by Steve Irish
It was another successful year for the Draycote Academy with around 65 youth and junior sailors from the club and further afield joining us for our top level coaching.
Our biggest take up was for the Toppers and ILCAs with more than 20 sailors signing up for each of these groups, alongside around a dozen RS Teras and four 29ers.
The growth of the Academy has in turn provided an opportunity to bring on our next generation of coaches, with Joe and Millie further developing their skills alongside head coach Steve and lead coach Steph, and Clemmie also now stepping up as an assistant coach.
As ever it’s been hugely rewarding to see the success of our Draycote Academy sailors as they compete regionally, nationally and internationally. And wherever they are from – local to us or among the many who travel considerable distances to be a part of the Academy – it’s always brilliant to see them acknowledging Draycote in their entries and by wearing our branded hoodies and race bibs!
All Draycote Academy sailors are members of the club and we have some tremendously loyal families for whom we are their second home.
Hari Clark took his second world title at the RS Tera World Championships at Lake Lipno, Czech Republic, in the RS Tera Sport (to add to his Topper 4.2 world title from 2024), with Molly Wilson taking first girl in the RS Tera Pro fleet.
There have been many more individual achievements along the way across all the Draycote Academy fleets, including for our ILCA sailors, who are fighting hard for results on the hugely competitive national and international scene for this Olympic singlehander.
We’re proud of all our Academy sailors who put in the hours more than most on our training weekends. They work hard from when they arrive and rig up to when they leave at the end of each day. And this is what gives them the edge over the competition.
They’re all super keen – you have to be if it’s a freezing cold day with more drizzle than wind! They just get on with it, building resilience, life and sailing skills. Even on a recent day when they were struggling to get boats down icy slipways, they still went out and were smiling.
They’re a dedicated group who go on to do brilliantly, whether achieving their goals in competition, or having learnt a lot about sailing for whatever follows, be it more racing, instructing or coaching. All leave the Academy with an enthusiasm for the sport and lots of friends within it!
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