Cadet World Champions

Well the title says it all......GBR Cadet World Champions and thoroughly deserved with the hard work on and off the water from the champion duo of Jamie Harris and Antonia Wilkinson.

It is fantastic to see that iconic flag on top of the podium and to know all of the sailors that represented GBR in Argentina it makes me incredibly proud to have played a part in your success with 6 GBR boats in the top 10. The whole team fought battles throughout the championships that included not only the world class level of the fleet but, brutal temperatures, light fickle shifty winds and short sharp chop.

Coming from Great Britain little can prepare you for such conditions and so as a coach, really focusing on the vital areas of the race course that will present opportunity to make gains, along with an arsenal of tactics and knowledge combined with slick boat handling and speed were the priority and have paid off.

Of course there will be disappointment and the underlying thoughts of what could have been for some of the sailors that now need to be used as learning points and fuel the fire to learn more to succeed at the next opportunity that all of these sailors will have once again in the Cadets or a new class as they progress through this exciting sport of sailing.

As National Cadet Class Coach, it gives me great pride (as well as to be able to finally relax...not looking at results) to see how as a team everyone performed in these conditions. For each of these sailors this was a huge mental challenge and one they should feel immense pride and accomplishment along with a hunger for more.

It is very easy to forget about about the people in the background (the unsung hero's) that without their support, encouragement and commitment these results would not be possible. Well done to all of the parents that travel miles, put up with the weather, give up their time, spend thousands of pounds to provide opportunities that these sailors have and I have the upmost respect for all of you and I hope seeing your children perform at this world class event brings an enormous amount of pride. This event being an end goal among the endless training weekends and events throughout the year just highlights what an outstanding job you all do and I know will continue to do, so thank you.

Again none of this would have been possible without the huge support Neilson have provided for the team along with the other sponsors such as London Gatwick. Your support is invaluable to all involved within the Cadets and I hope you continue to support this outstanding young athletes that are world class and have only just started on their journeys. I also want to offer a huge thank you to the team's coach Pablo during their time in Argentina, I know many of us would have loved to have been their to support the team but with his support and direction it has enabled Jamie and Antonia to be crowned World Champions.

Well now is the time to celebrate the huge achievement from all of the sailors along with of course the new World Champions. It is also time to wish several of these fantastically talented sailors farewell as they embark to move on to new bigger and faster classes that will just provide again another superb platform to which they can develop and succeed. To those that remain for further seasons within the class, the training never stops, as we head straight into squad trainings in a couple of weeks time, which is the ideal time to continue to develop the knowledge bank and build on that arsenal that will be called upon again at the next event.

Well done to all and what an amazing way to start 2017.

@Neilsonholidays

@GBRCadets