Image credit: I Lost A Wave In ’79
After a hard fought week at the World Slalom Championships in Denmark, British windsurfer Sarah Jackson, aged 20, came out on top to bring home the title of Youth Slalom World Champion 2018.
The competition took place last week in the cold waters of Hvide Sande, Denmark.
Sarah, from Over Peover, has been windsurfing since she was 8 years old, having started out at Astbury Mere in Congleton.
She progressed through the British Sailing Team, in regional and national squads, before leaving the Junior Olympic programme at 14 to focus on different disciplines of windsurfing.
She started competing on the senior professional world tour last year and has gone from strength to strength ever since.
This season she has competed internationally in Portugal, Italy and Denmark in world tour and world championship events.
With a strong fleet in both the youth and senior divisions, Sarah knew it was going to be hard work.
Going in the week after starting the season on crutches (with an ankle injury that left her lacking in competition preparation this year) wasn’t the ideal way to begin, but Sarah fought back.
As well as being cold, Denmark is renowned for being windy – and it didn’t disappoint.
After five solid days of racing with 12 rounds and 24 races completed in all wind conditions, the Brit cemented her first place position in the youth fleet and gained 6th place in the senior fleet at her first senior world championships – beating the top sailors from 10 other nations.
Image credit: Angela Jackson
Sarah said: “It was one of the hardest weeks of competition I’ve done.
“We raced everyday with most days being on the water for 4 or 5 hours so it was incredibly physically demanding, which wasn’t helped by the cold.
“There was a really strong fleet this week and I was really happy to come out on top in the Youths and beat the Youth European Champion.
“I also had my best result in the seniors and only slipped out of 4th place on the last day with some very close racing against ladies much older and experienced than myself.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to win a world title so hopefully this is the first of many.”
With the international season finished, Sarah’s focus now turns to the British tour where she will compete around the British Isles in wave, freestyle and slalom competitions for the next two months, whilst also continuing her studies at the University of Bath.
Next year, her focus will be on gaining more international experience to fulfil her ultimate aim of a senior world title.
Sarah is now looking for financial support to compete in more international competitions next season. If you are able to support her, please get in contact via windsurfingsarah@gmail.com
