I (Amelia Gilboy- Junior member) have been able to participate in the Commodores Invitational Cup in Cowes earlier this month all thanks to the Commodore’s bursary aiding this opportunity.
We travelled up on Monday to be met with ‘the castle’, the grand yacht squadron that I would be lucky enough to explore over the next few days.
For a quick practice, we dropped off our stuff before venturing out into the solent on a j70 to familiarise with the tide and conditions, joining in on some practice racing with some other j70 teams we ran into.
The first night commenced in the pavillon with a briefing, introducing the VIPs of the squadron and the gold Cup. Following this, the first banquet: a truly special experience, never empty wine glasses, amazing food, and a great time to socialise with other competitors from across the UK and Ireland, concluding with the opportunity to explore the castle and its treasures in their full glory. There were golden, sparkly cups, every important ship’s flag, a library full of original diaries, and more history around every corner.
The first day of racing, in an unexpected racing area, we started strong with a 1st around the 1st mark but unfortunately we fell short of the lead as other teams became slicker in their routine. After the thrill of 6 races, and a cannon shot as our finish signal, the evening meal came where I had the honour of sitting besides the Commodore himself (who is an extremely nice and interesting person).
The second day came with personal improvements by our RTYC team, along with more wind. Which ultimately helped us achieve 5th overall, even against world class and Olympian sailors.
Although we didn’t win the Gold Cup, I myself won a mug with Royal Yacht Squadron logo, as I was the youngest competitor at age 16, which was an honour and something I will treasure forever!
As an overall experience- it was amazing I will always treasure this great opportunity the bursary has given me, enabling this commitment with the endless experiences it has and will provide, as I am sure it will continue to do.
