WELSH youth sailors from Clwb Hwylio Y Felinheli / Port Dinorwic SC have smashed out top 10 results at a world championship regatta.
Jac Bailey and Ben Sinfield claimed 6th overall at the 29er Worlds in Kiel, Germany, with team mates Ben Greenhalgh and Tom Sinfield hot on their heels in 9th.
Sarah McGovern, Chief Operating Officer for RYA Cymru Wales, said: “Having two Welsh 29er boats in the top 10 at the 29er Worlds is absolutely unheard of – a sign of brilliant things to come.
“A massive thank you to Sport Wales for their continued support of our Hwylio Cymru performance programmes.”
Sinfield siblings Ben and Tom, along with sailing partners Jac and Ben, are in the Welsh National Sailing Team, benefiting from RYA Cymru Wales/Sport Wales help with boats and kit, enabling them to achieve at the highest levels of competition.
The fiercely competitive 29er World Championships on the Baltic Sea in north Germany had more than 270 entries, with often full-on conditions putting boat handling and teamwork to the test in the youth skiff class.
Commenting afterwards, Jac and Ben said: “6th in the World! Super proud of the result we managed to put down together for our last 29er worlds. Kiel threw everything at us.
“Every day was a different day from windy to light to shifty to wavy, we had it all! We were able to stay consistent throughout the week and able to rely fully on our equipment with no breakages thanks to RYA Cymru Wales supporting us with the best kit!”
Jac and Ben hope to gain selection for a second year running to represent GBR in the 29er class at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, in December 2026, before moving on and transitioning into the Olympic 49er class.
Immediately preceding the 29er championship was the annual Kieler Woche regatta, which saw Ben Greenhalgh/Tom Sinfield finishing 3rd men’s team and 5th overall in a very competitive Eurocup fleet with 157 entries right before the worlds.
Tom said: “At Kiel Week we sailed really well in the light and are pleased to have managed to get a top 5 in a challenging week.
“In the worlds it was a rough start with a yellow flag and a big error on the first day but we kept our heads high and results consistent to manage to climb into the top 10, which we were overall very proud of in a windy week.”
Those who represent Wales internationally this summer will be among the first to receive Welsh Sail / Hwyl Cymru awards – equivalent to a ‘Welsh cap’ – following the introduction of a new set of performance awards for Welsh sailing competitors and coaches.
The Welsh National Sailing Team supports around 70 young Welsh sailors across seven junior and youth classes, providing squad camps and world-class coaching. Find out more about youth and junior sailing in Wales on the RYA Cymru Wales website.
