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Reece and Ian
The First Ambassador !

The First Ambassador !

Rhys Cornfield of Kincraig has been appointed by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) as its first Team 15 (T15) ambassador in the north of Scotland.  Rhys who has recently turned twelve lives in Kincraig and attends Kingussie High School.  He sails for Loch Insh Monsters T15 windsurfing team, which recently won for the Scottish T15 Championship for the third successive year. 

Rhys’ role of ambassador is well defined in the citation received at the presentation it states

“In achieving the status Rhys Cornfield has made a commitment to assist in the development of Team 15 clubs by promoting the RYA competition pathway and zone squad programme.  Rhys will represent the RYA and act as a point of contact to sailors from any club to ask questions about the RYA zone squads and open training opportunities.”

Rhys who is the current 5.5m Scottish Champion, the 2009 Scottish RYA Young Sailor of the Year, and Scottish Windsurfing Squad member is ideally suited to his new role.  He is passionate about windsurfing and is keen to encourage and help other windsurfers progress in the sport, and develop through T15.  In 2009 Rhys joined the United Kingdom Windsurfing Association (UKWA) circuit, which is a racer’s natural progression from T15.    This is a significant step up as 6.8 metre sailors compete up to the age of 15, and 7.8 sailors compete up to an age of 17.  UKWA races are held throughout England in locations such as Rutland Water,  Weymouth, Christchurch, (Mumbles) Swansea, Farmore etc.    The popularity of windsurfing is growing in the Badenoch & Strathspey area, attributable in part to the unprecedented success of the Loch Insh Monsters.  At a recent one week long sport-a-day course run by Loch Insh Watersports there were 73 local children enjoying a selection of sporting activities – from which  23 signed up for the dedicated windsurfing course.  It was such a success Loch Insh is running a follow up course on 10th – 14th August.

For those interested in joining Loch Insh Monsters all you have to do is go to Loch Insh Beach at 1 o’clock on a Saturday and enjoy a free taster session!  Loch Insh is the Monster’s home water, where they are generously hosted by Loch Insh Watersports.  The watersports facility and amenities make Loch Insh one of the premier watersports locations in Scotland and possibly the UK.  The club is fortunate to have such a fantastic stretch of water, which provides a broad range of wind and water conditions enabling the windsurfers to train in next to ideal conditions.  The initiative to form the club came from Tina Gibson (active schools co-ordinator) and Jonny Freshwater of Loch Insh.  Jonny has successfully coached the club for the last three years, and with his brother Andy has provided a great year round support to the young sailors.  Jonny attends the competitions throughout the season and has organised training trips to various coastal locations throughout Scotland.  Some members of the team have been trained on Tiree by Jonny when attending the annual Wave Classic event.

Discussions are currently taking place with Loch Inch to see if our local windsurfing season can be extended so that the advanced windsurfers can train throughout the winter months.  If the already successful members of the club were able to secure the training expertise of Jonny and Andy Freshwater throughout the entire year it would significantly improve their competitive edge.

Pictured is Andy Freshwater presenting Rhys with his award at Loch Insh.

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