After a busy winter of training, sailor James Grummett has been rewarded for all his hard work with a place on the RYA 29er UK Youth Squad and a place in the GB squad for the World Championships.

By the end of October Grummett and his crew sealed their position as the first U16 boat in the 29er Grand Prix series, and won a £700 sponsorship from Harken to keep the boat equipped with top-quality blocks and ropes.

Having collected the prize, Grummett headed straight for Riva del Garda in Italy to compete in his first Eurocup event, where he finished as first U16s and an overall 21st in a highly competitive European fleet of 66 boats. Two weeks later, he also finished as first U16s in the most prestigious UK inland event of the year, the Ovington Inland Championships, taking 10th place overall in a fleet of 67 boats.

Grummett spent almost all of December and January training either on the south coast or in Largs in Scotland.

At the start of February the Year 10 pupil at Blackburn’s Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, competed in the Tiger Trophy at Rutland in atrocious conditions, finishing 12th in a fleet of 117 boats that included a handful of World and UK Champions among the competitors.

Ten days later he arrived in Spain to compete in the first Eurocup of 2014, where he finished 17th, before spending another five weekends of training until the end of March.

The start of the UK racing season has gone well, with Grummett taking ninth in the first Grand Prix before finishing as ninth British boat at the RYA UK Youth National Championships.

He followed that with a great weekend at Pwllheli where he won the 2014 Welsh Open Youth Championships in fine style, with three wins and a second place over four races.

Following their excellent finish in the RYA UK Youth National Championships, Grummett has received a letter from the RYA to say that he has been selected to join the RYA 29er UK Youth Squad, and that he has also been selected to compete as part of the Great Britain team at the 29er North American Championship and at the 29er World Championship in Kingston, Ontario, from July 17 to August 2 this year.