Tadcaster duo Lilly Carlisle and Becky Wallbank admitted they had learned some crucial lessons on their way to RYA Volvo youth nationals 29er class gold on Scotland’s west coast.

The 2008 RYA youth nationals girls’ 29er bronze medallists, both aged 17, managed to go two better than their Pwllheli exploits by racing to the top prize in testing conditions at Largs.

With unpredictable and often gale-force winds making sailing impossible on the final three days of the five-day event, the Draycote Water Sailing Club pair, who had gone into the event among the favourites for the title, made no mistake in sealing gold by posting what proved to be a decisive series of low scores at the start of the week.

Carlisle and Wallbank’s victory now means they join an elite band of sailors who have won RYA Youth National titles, including three-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie and all three of the famed Yngling ‘Blondes in a Boat’.

“We didn’t go to Largs confident we would win, but it was a good week winning the gold, so we’re delighted,” said helm Carlisle.

“We also learned some really important lessons about how important it is to start a regatta well and take each race as it comes. You never know what’s around the corner as we discovered when the wind meant we couldn’t race after Tuesday. If you don’t start well you can get caught out as there is no time to catch up.”

The girls will now be looking forward to trying to replicate their youth nationals form when the 2009 29er Worlds take place in Italy’s Lake Garda in July.

Crew Wallbank added: “The main focus for our summer now is the worlds in Garda. It is our aim to get into gold fleet at the worlds and then see how high we can get.”

Duncan Truswell, RYA youth racing manager, said: “There are many talented sailors on our RYA Volvo Youth Squad programme and we plan to work very closely with them in the next few months to develop their medal-winning potential for the various forthcoming class European and World championships this summer.”