Sailor taking on the world

Having represented Great Britain at the last three Topper Sailing World Championships in Italy, Ireland and Spain, Year 11 student Sam McNamara is relishing the task of mastering a new boat.

Sam is an accomplished helm who since 2022 has been part of British Youth Sailing’s L&SE Topper Regional Training Group where he trained with national coaches and raced against up to 250 boats at the highest international level for Topper sailors.

Topper is a single-handed boat. At the 2024 World Championships in Spain, Sam gained a third best position and came seventh overall in his flight.

Since then, Sam has migrated to the Youth Class and started to sail a 420 double-handed dinghy as helm. Sam, who is a member of Bough Beech Sailing Club, and his sailing partner are learning the intricacies of sailing as a pair in this new larger, three-sail dinghy, a smaller version of the 470 Olympic Class boat.

Training continues throughout the winter as Sam and his crew are set on beating previous successes, aiming to qualify for the GB Squad at the 2026 420 World Championships.

Congratulations Sam, we are proud of your achievements.