The Scottish final of the 2008 Honda RYA Youth RIB championship was held at Port Edgar Sailing School, South Queensferry, on Saturday 14 June, on a beautiful summer’s day.
The Scottish final is part of a summer of fiercely competitive regional finals held all over the country and abroad, and the 30 kids who came to the Scottish final made it the most popular so far of the regional finals this year. There are two age categories, for 8-12 year olds, and for 13-16 year olds, and there was plenty of competition in both groups. Last year Gordon Bamford from Largs Sailing Club won the Scottish regional final (13 to 16 group) then took the National title at Southampton.
But to qualify to defend his national title, he had first to win this year’s Scottish final against many newcomers in the 13 to 16 year group. Among the younger group, there was plenty of new blood so competition was very open. There were many competitors from the Edinburgh area, and many kids came from Scout groups at South Queensferry, Inverleith and Cramond, while sailing clubs like Dalgety Bay and Cramond also sent strong contingents.
The youngsters had to drive their RIB around a course with many marker buoys, and pass tests of their ability to manoeuvre safely at low speeds.
The winner in the 8 to 12 year category showed his skills when he overcame the challenge of these strong local teams. Kyle Hughes, 12, from East Kilbride Sea Cadets powered round the course in 2 minutes 4.56 seconds to win his age category, and qualify for a coveted place in the UK National final at Southampton in September.
In the older age group, there were many confident drivers who made mincemeat of this time. UK champion Gordon Bamford did it again, winning the Scottish final for the second year in a row, to gain the chance to defend his 2007 National title. Gordon raced round the course in just 1 minute 9.32 seconds, beating off his closest rival by nine seconds. Gordon was very pleased to beat the time he set in the National final last year, so has high hopes for September. First however, he will compete for the World title in Rivena, Italy in July, so he may yet add another title to his collection.
Gordon said,”The standard was certainly raised against last year’s final. I’m really delighted and just can’t wait till the national finals.” Newcomer Kyle was if anything even happier. Organiser Jane Campbell Morrison said,”You should have seen Kyle’s face- He is over the moon about winning and can’t wait for Southampton.”
The Scottish Final followed a Schools Day at Port Edgar, in which 23 invited youngsters from local primary schools in South Queensferry, Rosyth, Pentlands and Hill of Beath all had the chance to drive the same RIB round the same championship course the day before the Scottish final. The kids had been selected for invitation by RYA Scotland after they had sent in winning paintings of what they thought a RIB looked like. Now they could see for themselves, and each enjoyed driving two circuits of the championship course at Port Edgar. Perhaps next year some of them will be competing in the final themselves!
Martin Moll, Head of Marketing for event sponsor Honda said: "We are very proud and pleased to be associated with the RYA Youth RIB Challenge for another year because it allows us to create links with the wider community - giving a younger generation access to our products and helping them engage with interactive, team based, social activities. Furthermore, as a manufacturer which puts safety at the heart of everything we do, the RIB Challenge gives us a great opportunity to underline this commitment."
The National prize at Southampton will be a Ribcraft 4.8m RIB, Honda BF50 outboard, Indespension trailer and ICOM VHF radio for use at their chosen club, all kindly donated by these companies.
For more information about the Honda RYA Youth RIB Championship, details on how to get involved and a list of regional finals scores visit www.rya.org.uk
