Hats Off To Hatty In China

Young North Wales talent Hatty Morsley has been representing Queen and country at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Sanya, China.

The 17-year-old Y Felinheli sailor was one of the 14 British Youth Sailing Team athletes and the total 374 sailors from 60 nations to compete across five days of racing at the Chinese venue.

Morsley raced alongside Hampshire’s Pippa Cropley (Royal Lymington YC) in the Girl’s two-person 420 event, where they finished in fifth place overall.

The duo, who won silver at the 420 Junior Europeans this summer, sailed an impressive event to head into the final day in fifth and with a chance of a podium place, but in spite of a strong finish with second in the final race to round off their regatta, their key rivals also finished well leaving the British pair unable to advance.

Morsley, who celebrates her 18th birthday this week, says she is pleased with their performance.

“It was really fun. It was probably the most fun event we’ve done, I think. You don’t see any other Brits on the water so it makes you talk to the other sailors from other nations which you might not normally do at other events. The racing is a lot harder as well, so when you get a good race it feels so much better.

“I feel like we improved quite a lot as the week went on,” Morsley continued. “The conditions have been really hard, but also the high standard and the fact the fleets are smaller, so if you make a mistake it’s harder to pull your way back.”

“Coming in to the event, we had hoped we would be in the running for a medal, but I’m happy coming fifth. It was really hard racing and I feel like we could have done it, but I’m proud of where we finished.”

Across the British team, Dorset windsurfer Emma Wilson successfully defended her title in the Girl’s RS:X event in Sanya, while Suffolk sailor Daisy Collingridge picked up a bronze medal in the Girl’s Laser Radial.

James Gray, British Youth Sailing’s Team Leader in Sanya, summed up the regatta overall: “It’s been a hard-fought week in conditions that our sailors don’t experience that much of in the UK, but I’m delighted with the two medals we won, and I think we can be proud of how we conducted ourselves as a team regardless of outcomes.

“Each sailor continued to learn and to fight even when things hadn’t quite gone to plan.”