Battle in Weymouth bay

Sailors from all over the World are preparing for the Youth World Championship

The Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship gets underway in Weymouth, Great Britain this Wednesday 12 July, with a host of new contenders for the premier accolade in youth sailing lining up for glory.

Of the seven gold medallists from Busan, Korea last year only one returns to compete in Weymouth, with Lukasz Grodzicki aiming to repeat his Windsurfer Boys gold medal on new equipment in the shape of the RS:X. The 17 year old Polish star has already shown his potential on the senior circuit this year, with top 20 finishes at the ISAF World Sailing Games and ISAF Grade 1 Kiel Week, and is particularly dangerous in the lighter winds.

However Grodzicki knows it will be no easy ride in Weymouth, especially with two Youth Worlds silver medallists lining up against him. Nimrod Mashiah (ISR) claimed the runners up spot in 2004, whilst last year Pierre LeCoq (FRA) took silver as part of the Volvo Trophy winning French team. Both return to Weymouth, and both will be desperate to go one further step up the podium come 21 July.

Another Israeli windsurfer looking for success is 18 year old Maayan Davidovich, who will be competing in her fourth consecutive Youth Worlds in Weymouth. Having just missed out on the podium in the last two years, Davidovich will be amongst the favourites after an extra year's training. Eighth place at the recent ISAF Grade C1 RS:X European Championships demonstrated she has already got to grips with the new board, and is a challenger to be reckoned with not just on the youth circuit.

Wiebke Sradnick (GER) is another sailor who will be appearing in her fourth consecutive Championship, and like Davidovich has so far come close, but never quite managed to hit the heights of the podium. The 18 year old is already proving to be a quick learner on the RS:X, with a top ten finish at Kiel just a few weeks ago. Last year's bronze medallist in the Windsurfer Girls event, Laura Linares (ITA) is also returning to the Youth Words in 2006.

The home crowds will be expecting a lot of the British Hobie 16 crew of Tom Phipps and Richard Glover, with the 17 year old Phipps, already holding a gold and silver medal from his two previous appearances. Meanwhile Guatemala's Juan Maegli also returns for his third Youth Worlds, looking to improve on his 2004 bronze medal winning performance with new crew Enrique Arathoon.

Across the other fleets the only other returning medallists from 2005 come in the Girls' 420 fleet. The USA's Briana Provancha last year picked up the silver medal with Megan Magill, and will be aiming for similar success in 2006 with new helm Emily Dellenbaugh. A strong challenge is sure to come from Brazil's Mariana Basilio and Daniela Adler Pimentel Duarte however, with Basilio a bronze medallist from Busan.

Although Singapore's Boys' 420 gold medallists from Busan, Wee Chin Teo and Terence Koh are too old to defend their title this year, elsewhere Singapore look likely to present a formidable challenge. With China surprisingly not appearing in Weymouth, the young stars from Singapore look the most likely sailors to mount the strongest Asian challenge in Britain. Already this year they have had plenty of time to get themselves used to success, with a string of gold medal winning performances at the Asian Sailing Championships and Optimist regattas around the world. Even more recently Singaporean sailors lifted titles at the Byte and Laser 4.7 Worlds, with new 4.7 World Champion Victoria Chan competing in the Laser Radial fleet in Weymouth. Up against Chan will be the World Championships runner up Agnieszka Skrzypulec (POL), who will be looking for revenge after Chan just piped her to the post in France.

Finally moving on to the Laser fleet and another 4.7 World Champion, Joaquin Blanco Albala of Spain will start as one of the favourites. The 17 year old won the Worlds last year by a dominant margin and will be looking to break the British stranglehold on the Laser title, although Sean Evans (GBR) is sure to have other ideas.