After a tough weekend’s racing on 8-9 September at Weymouth, Andrew Cornah from West Kirby Sailing Club, along with team mates Andy Bryson, Carl Gibbons and Dave Cheshire, secured his place in the United Airlines RYA Match Racing Final, that takes place next weekend in Weymouth. Family rivalry may be on show as he will be competing against his sister Julia, after she qualified at the United Airlines Youth Match Racing Championships last month.

Each of the teams competed in a total of 14 races, racing was made interesting due to strong breezes and shifty conditions, but three teams came out clear ahead. As there was a considerable margin, it was decided that these three would qualify and semi finals and finals would not be sailed. Tom Bowsher, who is a newcomer to the match racing experience sailed well and was rewarded with a second place with Graham Sunderland in third position.

Race Director, Bill Edgerton commented: “The standard of sailing in all three of these boats was very high, Cornah made fewer mistakes than the others and was sailing the boat well. I was also impressed with Tom Bowsher and his team, considering they have not sailed that much, they showed good speed and were controlling the boat well in the gusty conditions that we have had this weekend.”

All three teams will go on to compete in the final that is taking place in Weymouth on the 14-15 September. If they are triumphant and finish in the top four at this event, they will proceed to the United Airlines RYA Match Racing Open, where they will be able to test their skills against some of the best match racers in the world.