Volvo Youth Worlds

250+ competitors from 47 countries to race in Busan next week

The 2005 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships commences on the 14 July and takes place at the 1988 Olympic sailing regatta venue of Busan, Korea. It is regarded as the youth sailing Olympics and this year has drawn an entry of over 250 competitors representing 47 countries.

The competitors, all under the age of 19, will compete in four disciplines: Laser (boys and girls), 420 (boys and girls), Mistral (boys and girls) and Hobie Cat (mixed).

ISAF President Göran Petersson commented: “ISAF is very pleased to be taking the event into Asia and to see so many countries from the region participating. The Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships is an important tool for the development of the sport around the world and it is great to see it producing the stars of the future.”

As well as the individual medals and titles, the coveted team prize, the Volvo Trophy, will also be hard fought. This is awarded to the national team that aggregates the most points during the Championship, and was awarded to France at the 2005 Championship. Nations who are fielding a full team, such as Australia, France, Great Britain, Spain and Brazil, are those that are among the favourites to win the Volvo Trophy.
Many of the smaller sailing nations will be sending teams to Busan, including Bulgaria, El Salvador, Indonesia, Moldova and Uruguay.

As part of its global sailing strategy Volvo has sponsored the World Youth Sailing Championship since 1998. Its support peaks every four years with the Volvo Ocean Race, the world’s premier ocean race. Volvo also aims to make a difference at the grass roots and development levels within the sport.

Glenn Bourke, Chief Executive of the Volvo Ocean Race commented: "Over the last few years, Volvo has played a large part in youth racing and sees it as an important step in helping future sailing talent to develop in the hope that one day these young sailors will be representing their countries at major sailing events such as the Volvo Ocean Race, Olympics and America's Cup.

“I wish all the competitors the very best of luck in what I am sure will be one of the most memorable regattas of their lives and I sincerely hope that the preparation and training that they have done for the event is reflected in their results."

Busan is the national sailing capital of South Korea, and hosted the 1988 Olympic Regatta. Busan is Korea's second largest city and is located on the most southeastern tip of the Korean Penisula.