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Archie Summers Youth Award | ||||||||||
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"gain points throughout the season..."
"help towards entering events..." Youth sailors will be able to apply before the start of the sailing season and add up points throughout the sailing year. The winner’s name will be printed into a varnished centreboard plaque made by Archie and donated by the Summers family. This centreboard will be displayed in the main club room. The club as a whole is very keen to encourage young sailors and we hope this award will be a key factor in youth development. | ||||||||||
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Archie Summers Youth AwardAs published in the December 07 news The first Archie Summers Youth Award has been won by Matthew Goacher and Joey Beer in their 29er.
There were a number of young sailors that were considered for the award in 2007 including Jennifer Austin, Katie Hedgecock and Elodie Jackson. Matt and Joey came out on top after everyone was scored against a set criteria including their commitment to sailing at Lancing which was calculated from race entries. Other criteria include previous experience at opens and events planned in 2008. The result of this scoring formed the basis of a debate on the sailing committee on who the winner should be with the final result coming from a vote. The award in future will include a criteria to take into account whether the candidates have won it previously. This is to try and ensure the same people do not win it year after year which might act as a disincentive to other young sailors. The hope is to encourage our youth sailors to venture out to opens and develop their sailing skill which should in turn improve their sailing at Lancing. Andy Carter, Treasurer |
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Archie Summers Youth award - a word from the winners 2007
At the end of the summer, we went to our first event in the RYA South East Zone Championships at Bewl Valley. In the 29er fleet, we finished 4th with the points extremely close. We also went to the 29er Inland Championships, competing against over 50 other crews. It was a light wind event but we finished respectively for our first major open meeting in testing conditions. Throughout this winter, we have participated in 8 29er Open Training weekends at Draycote, Grafham and Datchet. It has been great fun and we have learnt a huge amount. It really is worth going to organised class open training, you make loads of new friends and improve your sailing! Looking ahead, we are hoping to compete at all the major events in 2008, which may include the RYA Youth Championships, the European Championships, a Eurocup Event at Weymouth and the National Championships as well as a number of Class Open Meetings. The bursary will be put to good use. Our process goals for 2008 are to achieve a top 5 finish in the Silver Fleet at the Youth Nationals, (if we are allowed to attend as the event is in term time and we are both in GCSE year) and to try to obtain a Youth Squad place for the winter of 2008/09. Finally, we would like to thank Lancing S.C for their support and interest and those members who help launch and recover our 29er." Matt and Joey An extra bit from Barry
To put a little background to Matt and Joey may help to understand what they are doing. Matt started in Optimists, attended 14 national Ranking events, and approximately 8-10 open meetings per season. He was a member of the RYA South East Zone Squad and then the RYA/IOCA National Development Squad. He represented his country twice at overseas events. Members may know more of Joey as he has done most of his sailing at Lancing, sailing his Topper regularly in club racing but not having much experience away from the club. So it was extraordinary for him to take on both the 29er and a campaign of some intensity. Joey and Matt were put together by Jerry Hone, and the Goacher family gently explained to Joey's parents what a 29er campaign would entail. A number of days were spent at Ardingly Reservoir getting to grips with this tango sailed bent plastic flying machine. The power-to-weight ratio is interesting compared to other popular classes at Lancing:
As can be seen, the 29er has a challenging power-to-weight ratio and added that Matt and Joey are still light compared with the recommended crew weight the learning curve has been vertical... A challenge then which the boys enjoy but it means sometimes the conditions at Lancing see the boat stays on the beach rather than tie up the Safety Boat. Progress is being made, they are growing and gaining in confidence. This is a highly technical boat and crew work is paramount. The bursary will assist in more training which can only lead to improvement. Thank you." Barry Goacher |
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In May 2005, Archie was leaving us. He was always keen to encourage young sailors and, as a tribute to Archie, the club has devised a Memorial Award.
As a result of this they have received a small trophy; their name will be printed onto a centre board made by Archie himself and placed in a prominent place in the club house and they will be given a bursary of £100 from the club that will be used towards their sailing in nationally recognised events or training programs. Congratulations to you both.
"We were honoured and surprised to receive the Archie Summers Youth Award and we would like to thank all those who had a say in presenting us with it. Also, we would like to apologise for not being present at the Dinner and Dance to receive the award, ironically, we were training. Since getting the 29er, we have been to training and competitions away from Lancing. 
"Can I echo Matt and Joey's thanks and assure members that the bursary will be well used in helping to develop their skills.|
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