Jordan Giles earned a very respectable 19th place finish when he sailed in the Royal Yacht Association’s Youth National Championships.

The Great Marlow School pupil competed against 64 others in the boys’ radial class when the championships took place at the Olympic Sailing Centre in Weymouth on 4-10 April.

A penalty on the first day dropped the 16-year-old down to 25th in the standings after he had previously climbed up to 11th.

A tough couple of days ensued in the next couple of rounds before Giles pulled it back with finishes of fourth, fifth and ninth in the final three rounds respectively to ensure he finished in the top 20.

The final result means that Giles maintains his current national ranking of tenth.

His strong showing at the national championships follows some impressive displays in the spring series of the Laser Radial races which act as qualifying events for the World and European Championships.

The first of the three race series was held at Torbay and after the first day of competition the youngster had made his way up to 20th in the rankings.

Day two was less successful and after snapping a mast, which forced him to retire, Giles eventually finished 34th overall.

Stokes Bay was the destination for the second race and it proved to be a happy hunting ground for the local lad as a third place finish on the final day helped him achieve a 13th place finish overall.

The final instalment of the series was again held in Weymouth but conditions meant that only one day of racing was possible, with Giles finishing the day 16th in the standings.

He will now prepare to compete in the national championships in Cornwall before heading overseas to entre events in Germany, Poland and Portugal.