DORSET sailors enjoyed a week of competitive racing at the Royal Yachting Association’s Youth National Championships.

Weymouth windsurfer Lily Young was competing in the RS:X fleet at Pwllheli in Wales.

She found the conditions challenging and unpredictable.

Young said: “Conditions were mixed throughout the week, we had all winds from three to thirty-five knots. It was mainly offshore, coming from the mountains throughout the week and it was very shifty and gusty.

“The racing was super tricky and watching the wind shifts was key.

“I performed well on the light wind days, my less favoured wind, and kept up a super high work-rate by pumping as much as I could upwind and downwind which got me some good placings.”

Her hard work paid off as she was awarded a silver medal and will go on to represent Great Britain at the European Sailing Federation’s (EUROSAF), European Youth Sailing Championships.

She said: “My best moment of the event was when I went up to get my silver medal and they announced that I had been selected for the EUROSAF Youth European Sailing Championships in August in Austria.

“I was super happy to be chosen and it was a great end to the week.”

Young will now spend lots of time on the water and in the gym to prepare for the summer regattas.

She has a number of smaller national events she will take part in and is hoping to compete at the Youth European Championships in July held in Helsinki, Finland.

Young has been supported by the Osprey Leisure Centre and wanted to say: “Thank you for their continued support.”

n Dorchester sailor Jack Cookson joined the Laser Standard fleet. It was his first major event competing in a Standard.

There were difficult weather conditions throughout week but despite this, Cookson finished in fourth place overall, narrowly missing out on the podium.

He said: “The racing was tricky, I had a good first day winning the only race of the day.

“The second day was difficult and I wasn’t able to understand the shifts, falling to eighth overall.

“Over the last few days of the event, I managed to claw back to fourth, almost finishing third.

“I am disappointed with my result, but know that I have improved dramatically from last winter and I know what to work on to give me a great chance in the summer events across Europe.

“Well done to Anthony Parke for winning and sailing well all week.”

After competing at the Youth Nationals, Cookson flew out to Bermuda to continue his training and while there, has visited the BMW Oracle Team USA Americas Cup facility.

The 18-year-old was privileged to be given a tour by Tom Slingsby, Gold Medal winner in the Laser Standard class at the London Olympics and Tactician for Team USA.