Harry White (sailor)

Harry White, (born 27 February 2000) is a British competitive sailor.

His greatest success came after being named British Young Sailor of the Year 2022.

, along with his brothers Charlie & Thomas White (

), for their outstanding performance winning both the Musto Young Skipper & Under 25 Team Trophies at Cowes Week in 2022, racing their Squib (keelboat) Kestrel (835).

He also held the World Record for the Greatest distance sailed in a single-handed dinghy in 12 hours back in 2021, completing 107.64 km (66.9 miles) sailed on The Solent.

In fall of 2023, the record was broken by Thomas McEvoy from Mooloolaba, Australia as he sailed 125.60 km on the 17th of May

Harry was born in the London Borough of Camden as the youngest sibling after his brothers Thomas & Charlie.

They were brought up on the Isle of Wight attending various public island schools throughout their education.

He first joined the local Royal Victoria Yacht Club (England) back in 2008, where he started his official sailing journey at the age of eight.

In 2021, he graduated from the University of Portsmouth in Geography BSc achieving First Class Honors.

After joining the Royal Victoria Yacht Club (RVYC) he began training in the Optimist where he progressed his basic skills learning the fundamentals of sailing and later on racing.

Progression was swift as he started racing just two years later in 2010, entering at club level.

Team Isle of Wight finished 7th in the team standings and Harry ended the regatta in 10th individually.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Guernsey Island Games were postponed until 2023.

In this time, Harry moved from the ILCA 6 to the ILCA 7 rig.

Once again he was selected to represent Team Isle of Wight.

This time round saw the Isle of Wight sailors net consistent results across both fleets securing Team Silver medals.

Individually, he placed 6th in the ILCA 7 individual rankings.

In the following years he proceeded to race at the national level but only placing as high as 11th out of 78 in the South Coast Championships in 2011, hosted at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club.

Later that year, he joined sailors from the RVYC and Brading Haven Yacht Club (to represent Team Isle of Wight) in Southampton to challenge for the RYA OnBoard Title Champion of Champions event, where they won, beating Team Hampshire.

While in the Optimist, he found great success at the local level claiming many local regatta and club titles but it wouldn't be until his progression to the ILCA, formally known as the Laser, where he'd prove his ability.

Keen members of the club provided Harry and his brothers with the opportunity to sail in the class starting in 2014 and develop on a different type of sailing compared to dinghies.

With practice and the generosity of the National Squib class, Harry and his brothers were able to compete at events including the prestigious Cowes Week, Nationals, Inlands and South Coast Championship events.

After his junior progression in the Optimist and Laser, he set his sights on competing at the Island Games, which is a biennial multi sport event consisting of competitors from 24 islands or island groups around the world.

In 2015, he stepped into the Laser winning the South Coast Championships in the smaller 4.7 rig (known today as the ILCA 4).

Similarly to his Optimist he continued to achieve local titles at club and regatta level.

This marked the first Isle of Wight sailing team medal since the 2015 Island Games in Jersey, which previously saw Team Isle of Wight take Silver.

Post COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a turning point for Harry as he gained better and more consistent results at various sailing regattas and events in addition to breaking a Guinness World Record.

On the 7th of September 2021, Harry set sail from the RVYC with the task of breaking the world record for The greatest distance sailed in a single-handed dinghy in 12 hours.

The Solent proved to be a reliable stretch of water to attempt such a challenge.

With the assistance of a safety rib, he was able to beat the record setting the new mark to 107.64 km.

In fall of 2023, the record was broken by Thomas McEvoy from Mooloolaba, Australia as he sailed 125.60 km on the 17th of May.

Harry has since stated that he would be eager to attempt reclaiming his record.

Cowes Week has proved to be a regatta where Harry and his brothers Thomas & Charlie have shone in the National Squib class.

First competing in Cowes Week and Cowes Classics Week back in 2015 using an RVYC owned Squib, Alice (777).

Over the seasons, Harry and his brothers improved on their setup and competitiveness.

After taking ownership of their Squib, Kestrel (835) the brothers proceeded to compete at the front of the fleet, assisted by their in-depth knowledge of the local Solent area.

2018 and 2019 saw him compete at multiple UK World & European Qualifier events, though a string of bad luck with broken masts and kit malfunctions prevented any further progression steps in the ILCA class until later years.

The RVYC boasted a competitive double-handed keelboat fleet, in the National Squib class.

Harry was selected to represent Team Isle of Wight at the 2019 Island Games in the Laser Radial (ILCA 6).