Kieran Martin demonstrated promise comparable to Olympic silver medallist Nick Dempsey on the way to his latest world title – according to RYA youth racing manager Duncan Truswell.
The 18-year-old sailed the perfect regatta in the opinion of Truswell to claim the boy’s RS:X title with a day to spare at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Cyprus in the middle of July.
His lowest finish during the whole regatta was ninth, that coming the day after securing victory, with his winning margin over second-placed Oleksandr Tugaryev in Limassol 23 points.
Martin became the first British male windsurfer to medal at the regatta since Dempsey, who won bronze in Cape Town in 1998, and Truswell believes that is a fact that bodes well for his future.
“Kieran did a really great job and it has been quite a long time since we won a male windsurfing medal at these worlds,” said Truswell, who oversaw the 12-strong British team in Cyprus.
“We thought immediately at the time that the last person was Nick Dempsey, the Olympic silver medallist from London 2012, which is pretty exciting.
“The strange thing about sailing is that you don’t have to win races all the time. Often it is a measure of who takes the biggest risk.
“But Kieran did exactly what he needed to do and there were no massive risks. He was consistent and stamped his authority and never used his discard and had the perfect regatta.”
Martin may just be 18 but his resume makes for fine reading – a two-time age world champion in the Techno 293 class and a medallist at the inaugural Youth Olympics just a few of his achievements.
And Truswell believes Martin, a member of Carsington Sailing Club, could have been toasting the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship title last year but finished ninth in Ireland.
“In all honesty he was capable of winning last year in Dublin but he was still pretty young and naïve,” said Truswell. “But then this year he was the model of consistency.
“He had all the potential last year and made a few costly errors so to see him win this year is all the better.
“He has worked hard to achieve this, he’s trained hard and I know he and his family have made a lot of sacrifices, it’s great to see it pay off.
“He is moving up now so won’t be at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships next year but the strength of our system is that we have fast learners.”
© Sportsbeat 2013