Fowey lads Callum Pritchard and Arthur Slack beat off stiff competition among 30 young competitors, aged between nine and 16, to win the racing at the OnBoard Sailing Festival, held at Stithians Lake last weekend.

The boys, who are both pupils at Fowey Community College and members of Fowey Gallants Sailing Club, joined youngsters from seven OnBoard sailing clubs in the area at the festival, organised by RYA OnBoard Development Officer Mark Belshaw.

All the children have been introduced to sailing through the OnBoard scheme, and the aim of this event was to give them an opportunity to meet like-minded young people from other clubs and encourage them to test their sailing skills in a race situation.

Despite early showers, the youngsters began their packed day with race training sessions run by RYA regional club coach Elsa Chance and race coaches Tom Bray and Kate Robinson from St Mawes Sailing Club.

Then, after a picnic lunch, a sunny improvement to the weather and a good sailing breeze launched them into a three-race regatta series, using RS Feva dinghies provided by their clubs and the South West Lakes Trust.

Callum, 11, and 13-year-old Arthur had some healthy competition for the top slot... particularly from their own club's team.

A strong showing from Fowey Gallants Sailing Club resulted in final placings of first, third and fourth, while very consistent sailing by James Thornton and James McDonald from Stithians Waves Club ensured them the runners-up position.

However, fun was the main activity of the day – and there is no doubt that the youngsters had plenty of that.

'I think we should do this sort of thing every month,' said Charlotte Williamson, 15, from Fowey.

Mark Belshaw was assisted on the day by many of the adult volunteer helpers from the seven clubs, who regularly give up their own time to help get these young sailors out on the water.

Mark said: 'We've had a fantastic day, and it's great to see lots of families and friends here to support the sailors.

'The majority of the young people here today started their sailing with one of these OnBoard partners, and for most this will have been their first taste of racing outside their own club.

'By providing this fun environment, I hope to encourage those who want to get into competitive sailing – who knows, we may have seen a future Olympic medallist here today!

'Thank you to all who took part, and to all the volunteer helpers without whose efforts and commitment, most of these young people would not have been out sailing today, and to the South West Lakes Trust, who lent us some of their boats and all the lake facilities free of charge today.'

The seven clubs involved were: Penzance Sailing Club, Fowey Gallants Sailing Club, Helford River Children's Sailing Trust, Camel Estuary Youth Sailing, Stithians Waves Club, Helford River Sailing Club and St Mawes Sailing Club.

Run by sailing's National Governing Body, the RYA, OnBoard is a highly successful industry-supported grassroots programme which seeks to make sailing easier to get into for young people.

During a ten-year period the programme aims to introduce a minimum of 500,000 children to sailing in the UK, converting more than ten per cent of them into regular participants.

For further information about how to get involved in sailing, visit the RYA's website at: http://www.rya.org.uk">www.rya.org.uk or the OnBoard website at: http://www.ruob.co.uk">www.ruob.co.uk