Leila Moore has sailed home with the wind in her face to win the Royal Yachting Club’s Thames Valley & London Region Youth Champion award.
The 14-year-old from the Isle of Dogs in the heart of east London gets her award along with the 11 regional winners at a presentation on stage at the London Dinghy Show.
“I absolutely love sailing,” Leila enthused. “It’s an unusual sport to pick being a city girl, but I am so glad I did—and sooo grateful to my coaches.”
She is being presented with her award by British Sailing Team’s Giles Scott on Saturday.
Leila’s dream is to sail for Britain and is moving into an Olympic-class boat over the next two years in time for the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina.
She volunteers four days a week during school holidays as a coach at the Docklands Sailing & Watersports centre on the Isle of Dogs near where she lives where she first learnt to sail.
Her string of titles since 2012 includes Greater London and London Youth Games championships.
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