Meet Beth Williamson: winner of the Rob Cartwright Award 2004
The young and talented Beth Williamson.
What is the Rob Cartwright
Award?
Rob Cartwright was a promising
young racer who competed in national
events. He died, along with his
father, in a car accident as
they returned home from a Team
15 racing event held at Southport.
The ranks of the RYA recognised
even at that early age what potential
Rob Cartwright had. It was they
who decided on the Memorial Trophy to award sailors who have shown
dedication and determination,
and who have aspired to their
goals over the preceding twelve
months. |
About Beth
Age: 16 years
Hometown: Lydiate,
Liverpool
Local beach/lake: West
Kirby & Crosby/Southport
2004
best results: 4th Mistral
Junior Worlds (6.6m class), finished
top U17 girl at the recent RYA National
Championships
When and where did you first
step onto a windsurf board? In
the summer of 2001 Southport Boardsailing
Association held an open day. For £10
you could sail, water ski, canoe,
and windsurf for as long as you wished.
I enjoyed the windsurfing so much
I did that all day using a mini BIC
rig because I was too small for the
3.5m.
When and where was your first
racing event? In 2002,
Team15 was really starting to get
off the ground. Southport Boardsailing
Association (SBA) put a team out
in the West Zone competition. The
first event was at Astbury. They
put me out on a 3.5m Nautix and a
HiFly Magnum board which I was just
starting to master. I came in first
girl and second overall to Rob Cartwright.
From then on I wanted to be as good
as Rob.
To us non-Mistral sailors,
I want you to explain exactly what
kit you sail on now. As
I am 17 next year so I have to move
up from the MJOD 6.6m sail class
to the IMCO 7.4m sail. The 6.6m sail
is for the U17’s
and 7.4m sail is for the U19 age
group. The kit is officially known
as the Mistral One Design and is
currently the Olympic Class sail.
The rig is a twin cam, five batten,
7.4m sail with a 495cm mast and a
372cm race board. Compared to wave
kit it’s really heavy, especially
if you’re small like me!
You went to the Worlds this
year and came 4th!! The
World Championships were held in
Nessebur in Bulgaria on the Black
Sea, the first week in August. It
was the highest level of competition
I have taken part in and was a great
experience.
In a fleet of twenty three sailors
from over twenty different countries,
I received a medal for fourth place,
just five points off the Bronze.
I was more than happy.
But it
was nearly a different story as the
rigours of the first day’s racing caused my badly
blistered palms to open up revealing
the flesh beneath. However my coach,
Helen Cartwright, put several coats
of ‘super glue’ on them
which acted as a second skin. With
the adrenalin masking the pain in
my hands I completed the rest of
the weeks sailing with a string of
fourth, third and second places.
Your competition
Looking at the results from
the2004 RYA Championships, it looks
like you’re the top U17 girl
in the country. Is it always close
between you and Jilly Bromley?
I
must give some credit to Jilly Bromley
here. She was the one to whom I was
always playing ‘catch
up’ in the MJOD 6.6 fleet.
Jilly loves it when the wind is up.
Till lately I have been a lighter
wind sailor, being just 48kgs, but
my confidence and ability is building
all the time. Whilst I would have
considered myself on a par with
Jilly in the 6.6m fleet, both she
and Laura Bray are more experienced
than me on the 7.4m sail. Having
only just entered this class I’m
on a new learning curve. Jilly and
I have always enjoyed a friendly
rivalry at events. I did manage to
beat her in the 2003 RYA Championships
when the wind was in my favour.
2004 RYA National Youth Championships:
How did you prepare for this event? After
coming back from the World Championships
on cloud nine I was instructed by
the Transport and Finance Manager
(my Dad) to take a week off. Then
I slotted straight back into my training
regime for a four week run up to
Weymouth. I did a lot of gym work
and an immense amount of swimming
in the run up to Bulgaria and my
level of fitness never really tapered
off with just the week’s
break.
I have sailed at Weymouth on
several occasions so I am familiar
with the location. Unfortunately
because of college commitments till
late on the Friday afternoon, I was
unable to get any sailing in immediately
prior to the event.
What were the conditions
like on Sat AND Sun? Saturday
morning started good for me with
winds at 12-16 knots WNW and I scored
respectfully in both races. The afternoon
saw the winds increasing to 18 plus
knots and at times my inexperience
on the 7.4m sail showed. I got slammed
out a few times and was badly winded
and hit my head on the mast. Subsequently
I had a couple of DNF’s but
I will master those conditions.
Sunday provided WNW at 10-13kts:
my kind of wind on a race board.
With Gemma Lewis one point ahead
after the two morning races I had
to perform in the final race after
lunch and be thankful of two discards.
What are you especially good
at in races? My
starts have improved a lot since
I was promoted to the British squad
this year. I used to be fearful of
mixing it on the start line. Now
I’m up
there, though not as early as I should
be.
Thanks to the value of training
with regional coach Ian Roberts,
my down wind legs and pumping are
becoming a valuable part of my overall
performance.
Who were the outstanding
sailors in the Youth boys? Peter
Bird, Richard Potter and James Bullied
are consistently good sailors and
are always at the top of youth racing,
though at Weymouth they did not have
Paul Sibley giving them all a run
for their money.
Sum up 2004 for your sailing. 2004
has been a good year for me. Realistically,
I think I surpassed everyone’s
expectations this year. I was appointed
to the Great Britain Team in September
2003 after winning the British National
Junior Championships in Weymouth.
Winter training with the National
Team and with my regional coach Ian
Roberts saw me improve both mentally
and physically. This form showed
when I won the Welsh Open Championships
in April 2004, which qualified me
for the World Championships in Bulgaria.
Being placed at the Youth Championships
was a bonus but the icing
on the cake was being awarded the
Rob Cartwright trophy. Getting
this award is proof that your peers
have recognised the effort you have
put in and the progress you have
made. It’s a magnificent trophy
and is quickly becoming the goal
of many of the young sailors.
The future
What are your goals for the
2005 season?
- I’m very serious about
my studies so one of my goals is
to ensure I balance my time correctly
between my ‘A’ Levels
and windsurfing.
- Maintaining a good level of
fitness through the winter months.
I swim a great deal and play club
hockey. It means when the season
starts it’s not such a shock
to the system.
- Establish and build on my
position in the National Youth
Squad.
In the future, do you want
to be the next Faustine Merret or
the next Daida Moreno? At
this stage I would have to pledge
my allegiance to race board and say
Faustine Merret but if anyone would
like to teach me some short board
tricks, I have the time! If I have
an ultimate goal in windsurfing then
it has to be representing Great Britain
at the Olympics. Are
light winds forecast for Beijing?
Beth is sponsored by:
- David Lloyd Leisure
- SurfTech Crosby Marina
- Astbury Sailsports
|
More
Win
[776KB]
Mac
[806KB]
More
Previous
page
