We caught up with our 2024 PASS recipients, Flo Tovey, Harry Mills, Wilbur Palmer-Ward, and Thomas Semmens, to find out how their 2024 season has gone so far.
Through the PASS programme, we provide unparalleled opportunities for young athletes to hone their skills and reach their full performance potential. This includes top-notch coaching tailored to their individual needs, event support to navigate the competitive racing circuit, invaluable mentoring from seasoned professionals, and essential kit to gear them up for success on the water.
Here’s what Harry had to say!
Reflect on this summer, how do you think you have progressed?
This summer has been the busiest sailing season so far, competing in 2 National Championships and a foreign Worlds Championship and competing in 3 different classes. Overall, I am very happy with the progress I have made and especially with my development with consistent boat speed across the wind ranges as opposed to previously where I was only in my happy place going uphill in 15+ knot wind range. Downwind was always an issue for me but I think I now have the speed off the wind as well.
The highlights for me include winning the qualifying section of the Topper nationals at WPNSA and finishing 2nd at these Nationals, placing in the top 10 at the ILCA nationals and being generally competitive straight out of the blocks in this new class to me. I was fairly happy with finishing 13th at the Topper worlds in Spain but feel I had a top 10 finish in me. However, the objective was gold fleet and top 25 which was achieved. In the Topper national event series I finished 3rd overall, winning NS5 Summer Champs in Derwent, 2nd at NS4 Coastal Champs at Poole and 2nd at NS3 Inland Champs at Grafham. I also won the Regional Champs at WPNSA for the SW and South regions. As it stands, I am in 2nd place for the SW Topper traveller series joint on points with the first-place sailor and not finishing out of the top 2 in every event attended. I hadn’t planned to progress to the ILCA class as early as I have done but I was advised it was important to get a national ranking within the top 50% to access training so a top 10 at the Nationals and 4th place at Plas Heli means that I am on track to achieve this.
Looking ahead, what are your goals for the next sailing season, and how do you plan to achieve them?
Next season will all be about juggling sailing with the key year at school as I sit my GCSE exams. My school is very supportive, thankfully! The main goals are:
- Consolidate within the ILCA fleet competing nationally in the ILCA 4 and locally in the ILCA 6 with the view to being an established top 10 ILCA 4 sailor and hopefully improve on this year’s top 10 finish within the class. I do have one eye potentially on some international ILCA sailing if funds and results allow me to. I have already booked myself onto the Andrew Simpson Performance Academy winter training utilising my PASS funding and I will look to do ILCA skills week again.
- I shall also be competing in the J24 keelboat class at the Worlds in 2025 which is in Plymouth and hosted by my home club, which is a massive deal and we at Saltash Sailing Club are very excited to be co-hosting with the Plym Yacht Club in Plymouth.
Can you share a funny or unexpected moment that happened on the water this summer?
Well it was funny for the entire Topper fleet as I was in the hunt for a podium finish on the last day of the Nationals and whilst launching, I managed a Chinese gybe and got an early swim, 6ft off the slip in front of a cheering Topper fleet!
What’s the best piece of advice you received from a coach or fellow sailor this season?
Your race results at this age will not define how successful you will be later in your life, so enjoy sailing
