Cheltenham Sailor competing in Sailing Race Season

April 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Following his selection into the British Keelboat Academy (BKA) in autumn 2010, Paul has spent the winter training in many different areas.

“Over the winter our squad had technical sessions covering areas such as rope work, rigging, race tactics and race campaign planning.” says Paul.

“We also trained hard to increase our fitness and stamina, even if this did mean running at 6.30am on a cold January morning!”

The BKA is a partnership between the RYA and Isle of Wight maritime charity UKSA which supports young people aged 18 – 24 in the development of the skills needed to take their keelboat sailing to a professional level.

As well as training the squad to race to the highest level, the BKA also works on the personal development of each sailor, providing them with invaluable life skills.

Paul said “The training so far has really helped me improve my ability to react quickly to an unplanned situation and work through it in the best possible way.”

Throughout the season, BKA squad members will compete in a number of events on the south coast as preparation for the J80s Worlds in Denmark. As part of their campaign to be able to compete in the Worlds, Paul and his team mates are actively seeking support from individuals and businesses to raise money to cover some of their costs.

Paul comments on this year’s racing: “This year I’m looking for our J80 squad to finish the season in a good position, demonstrating the strength of coaching we have been given. Personally I am looking at taking my own ability to the next level so that I can head into next season as strong and prepared as possible.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

About UKSA

UKSA is the UK's leading youth maritime charity, working to change lives through maritime education and personal development.

Based in Cowes, UKSA's 3.5 acre on shore campus and fleet offers a comprehensive range of industry accredited yachting and watersports careers, programmes, leisure, training and multi activity watersports activities for schools and youth groups.
UKSA has a strong alumni network in the global maritime industry including the world-renowned sailor Dee Caffari.

The charity celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012. http://www.uksa.org

About the RYA

The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at http://www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at htpp://www.sportengland.org

Further information can be found at http://www.rya.org.uk

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The British Keelboat Academy supports young people aged between 18 and 24 in developing the skills needed to take their keelboat racing to a professional level.
www.britishkeelboatacademy.org