Gateways School Year 10 student Ana Paterson has recently achieved one of her sporting goals.
In November she won the Yorkshire and Humberside Schools’under-19 autumn series sailing in her RS Tera dinghy. Ana is the first female single-handed winner of the Under 19 Trophy in the association’s history. This follows on from her winning the under-14 Trophy in 2012.
Ana, who is 14 years old and lives in Wetherby, has been competing since she was 11 and is passionate about her hobby – training most weekends to improve her skills.
Ana said: I have recently moved up to a boat with a slightly bigger sail. There are so many things to think about when you are racing; the strength of the wind, its direction, the gusts, the course, the many complicated rules and the other boats.
Training for the next sailing season has already started and there are plenty of events in 2014 for Ana to look forward to. She will be competing in the Yorkshire and Humberside School events again as well as the many Championships at various venues around the UK. The European Championships will take place in May in La Bruinisse in the Netherlands, in which Ana is entered and she also hopes to go to South Africa where the World Championships are being hosted.
Gateways School Headmistress, Dr Tracy Johnson, said: We are extremely proud of Ana’s outstanding achievements in sailing and wish her continued success in the coming year.
