TWO young sailors from Lyme Regis, Ed Stubbs and Noah Kenny, graced the Feva World Championship in Italy.

Having gained third place in the Feva Nationals at home, the duo headed for Italy as one of 211 entries and eventually claimed a respectable 49th spot overall.

The qualifiers were sailed in stiff breezes, but in spite of their light combined weight, they had four results in the top 20 in their group and were selected for the gold fleet, containing the best 70 sailors in the world.

“Everyone was good, everyone knew which end of the line to start, no one made any mistakes, in the coach’s words, it was: ‘Brutal, one mistake and you were spat out the back of the fleet’, Stubbs’ father Dave said.

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“That was proven in the results. No-one dominated, the winner had multiple results well into double digits, including a 36th and only won one race. Top 10 finishes went as far down the table as 57th.

“The week ended on a high for them with a 12th place in the last race, beating the winning boat by quite some margin. That made up for all the drama earlier in the week.

“They will both come home much better sailors and they are already planning to compete in the worlds next year. This time it’s a bit closer to home in the Netherlands.”

The boys thanked friends, relatives and club members for their help and support with the costs of their adventure.

Dave and the sailors arrived back at 11pm on Sunday after a 17-hour drive.

Nevertheless, Ed was down to the club at 9am the next morning to work as an assistant instructor with Lyme Regis Sea School, sharing his skills.