Gearing up for the youth worlds
Thursday July 2nd 2009, Author: ISAF, Location: United Kingdom
The world's top young sailors are entering their final preparations as just one week remains until the start of the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Buzios, Brazil.
The 38th edition of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship will showcase the future stars of the sailing world at Buzios, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil from 9-18 July. Over 280 sailors from 59 nations are set to arrive in Brazil next week, looking to make their mark at the first-ever edition of the Youth Worlds to be held in South America.
Past winners of Youth Worlds titles have gone on to become some of the biggest names in sailing such as three-time America's Cup winning skipper Russell Coutts (NZL), triple-Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie (GBR) or recent Volvo Ocean Race winner Stu Bannatyne (NZL) and this year the potential of the competitors lining up looks just as promising. Amongst the entries for this year's championship is Brazilian Girls' 420 helm Martine Grael, daughter of five-time Olympic medallist and winning skipper of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race Torben Grael (BRA); and South African multihull competitor Matthew Whitehead, silver medallist at last year's Youth Worlds and the son of Colin Whitehead, President of the International Hobie Class Association.
Bruno Marques, chairman of the Organizing Committee for the championship, said: "Thanks to the help of the Rio De Janeiro State Government, we have carried out a major renovation project at the venue and with preparations now complete, we're looking forward to welcoming competitors, coaches and media to Buzios for the first ever Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship to be held in South America. We're expecting excellent sailing conditions and are looking forward to the start of racing next Saturday. Everything is in place to make this one of the most successful championships ever. "
Racing is held across seven events below, with 12 races scheduled for each event. Along with the individual events, the prestigious Volvo Trophy, currently held by Great Britain, will be awarded to the top performing nation at the championship.
Event - Equipment - Entries
Boy's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial - 54 entries
Girl's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial - 40 entries
Boy's Two Person Dinghy - 420 - 34 entries (68 sailors)
Girl's Two Person Dinghy - 420 - 25 entries (50 sailors)
Boy's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin - 23 entries
Girl's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin - 14 entries
Open Multihull - Hobie 16 with Spinnaker - 18 entries (36 sailors)
Thursday 9 July is the official arrival day for the championship, followed by the practice race and Opening Ceremony on Friday 10 July. The first official race day is Saturday 11 July, with two races scheduled across all seven events. Racing continues on Sunday and Monday, followed by the lay day on Tuesday and the final three days of racing on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 15-17 July.
Schedule
Thursday 9 July - Arrival Day
Friday 10 July - Practice Race and Opening Ceremony
Saturday 11 July - First Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Sunday 12 July - Second Official Race Day (3 races scheduled)
Monday 13 July -Third Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Tuesday 14 July - Lay Day
Wednesday 15 July - Fourth Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Thursday 16 July - Fifth Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Friday 17 July - Sixth Official Race Day (1 race scheduled) and Closing Ceremony
Saturday 18 July - Departure Day
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