ABOUT HENRY BAGNALL

 Born Lymington, Hampshire Henry entered a family of confirmed and experienced sailors. His father Harvey Bagnall and uncle, Richard (known as “the Bagnall Twins”) had won numerous RORC offshore races in the 1970s including the Fastnet Race 1975.

 

Henry’s parents moved to the Isle of Wight in 1991 where Henry’s sailing education began on Optimists at Gurnard Sailing Club when he was 7 and he was soon taking part in local races.

 

Following a move to Devon in 1996 Henry joined Dittisham Sailing Club and trained with the RYA South West Racing and Training Circuit.

 

At age 11 Henry started sailing Cadets and began helming the family mirror dinghy in open adult regattas, learning about the difficult tides and shifting wind conditions of the Devon estuaries.

 

As a result of having to endure the trauma of one or other of his parents as crew, Henry soon decided that he preferred single handed dinghy sailing and saved up to buy a second-hand laser. A week later, while still only 14 he competed in a fleet of 95 in the National Laser Championships.

 

The following year, Henry continued to sail against more experienced and weathered adults, in many different types of boats, with a good degree of success. Borrowing an Etchells for his first Cowes week, Henry helmed this powerful three man keel boat finishing mid-fleet out of 30 boats with a completely novice crew.

 

Back in Devon, Henry crewed on a Laser 28, enjoying several notable successes on the Torbay/Dartmouth racing circuit, particularly at Dartmouth Regatta where they won their class overall more than once

 

Just 17 and now living in Cowes, Henry fought his way to sixth place in the Laser Class on the National ladder and 3rd in the Laser National Club Championships.

 

In 2005 at the age of 18 Henry started work part-time for David Heritage Racing Yachts assisting with boat building and maintenance on fast racing keel boats and dinghies. This helped him to scrape together the funds to purchase his first Finn and begin his campaign towards Olympic selection in 2012.

 

In 2006 he won the first race of his first Finn Open Meeting and finishing 8th in the Finn Nationals. He went on to win Cowes Dinghy Week overall and ended the season 5th in the Finn Travellers Series and 9th in the National Rankings.

Realizing that there is a large gap between the average Finn class sailor and the International and Olympic Competitors, Henry set off to take part in his first international regattas.

 

His very creditable and consistent results can be seen on the results page.