Great Britain topped the medal table as the podium positions were decided on the final day of racing at the 2008 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Århus, Denmark.

James Ellis and Andrew Glover rounded off a sensational 2008 Championships for RYA Team GBR as they grabbed a final day bronze to leave Britain sitting top of the medal table as well as winners of the prestigious Volvo Trophy.

After the euphoria of Britain claiming double gold and clinching the Volvo Trophy – presented to the top performing nation at the Championships – for the first time in 12 years on a thrilling penultimate day, Ellis and Glover’s hard-fought SL16 catamaran bronze was the cream on top of an already very sweet cake for the young Brits.

Simon Wergan, RYA Youth Manager, had just one word for his team’s show this week: “Stunning,” he enthused. “There is no doubt in my mind that there are some very special sailors in this group, the results of all the medal winners were outstanding but we have really sailed as a team here and when people have needed to post results to score us points in the Volvo Trophy standings, they went out and did it”

The fight for second place was a close fought one with New Zealand pipping Australia to the post with only two points separating them. Team Cyprus has only three competitors in the championships, making their two gold medals, one by Pavlos Kontides in the Laser and the other in the Boy’s RS:X fleet by Michalis Malekkides, even more impressive.

John Derbyshire, RYA Performance Director, added: “This is a really great result for British sailing. To have a brother and sister both winning gold in different boats is just incredible and for the SL16 boys to have both won medals for the second year is also a great achievement. However every team member scored points to contribute to the overall Volvo Trophy success and every one of them can be incredibly proud.”

Final RYA Team GBR results:

Laser – Stuart Godwin 5th
Laser Radial – Chloe Martin 13th
SL16 – James Ellis and Andrew Glover BRONZE
29er Boys – James Peters and Ed Fitzgerald GOLD
29er Girls – Frances Peters and Claire Lasko GOLD
RS:X Boys – Jacob Brubert 13th
RS:X Girls – Izzy Hamilton 6th

Volvo Trophy final top five standings:

1) Great Britain – 359 points
2) New Zealand – 331
3) Australia – 329
4) France – 313
5) Denmark 249

Next year’s event will be held in Buzios, Brazil on 9-18 July 2009. For more information, visit www.sailing.org/youthworlds .