France wins country championship

At finale of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship

Despite Great Britain winning the final two unclaimed Gold medals today at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, being held on the waters of Gdynia, Poland, the French team lifted the Volvo Trophy for best team overall performance.

Yves Leger, French Team leader commented on his team’s result, "the team have worked really hard in preparation for this championship and their consistent results over all the classes has reflected this. Sarah Steyaert won France’s only individual gold medal in the girls Laser class, which shows her determination. I am extremely proud of the team."

France won one gold and three silver medals but it was the British that walked away with the greatest number of medals – two gold and three bronze.

British Team manager, Simon Wergan, commented, "to go into the final day of racing and know that a number medals are within the team’s reach and to walk away with two gold and three bronze is just a fantastic achievement. This is the best result that the British team has had at the Youth World Championship for a number of years. I am so proud of the mature way in which the sailors have handled themselves this week."

Australia and Poland both gained two Gold medals. Craig Ferris, Australia Team leader, said, "it was a great team effort and I am extremely chuffed! I am especially proud of the 420 teams, who both won gold medals, Elise & Tessa now are moving into the 470 Olympic Training squad and will aim for the 2008 Olympic Games."

British Hobie sailors, Tom Phipps and Jonathan Cook (15), finished two points ahead of the French boat at the end of 12 races to claim the gold medal. The ecstatic duo credited hard training for their success. Despite Julien Villion (16) and Martin Bataille (15) (FRA) winning today’s race they had to be content with second place. It is likely that these boys will continue to meet out on the race course for many years to come as all want to move onto Olympic Tornado sailing.

Nick Thompson, the 18 year old British sailor took the Gold medal in the Laser fleet. He said, "I came to this World Championship with the aim of winning a medal, so am really pleased to be going home with Gold. This medal is so important, as it qualifies me for the Olympic Development funding programme, which means I can now focus on going to the 2008 Olympic Games’.

Provisional Volvo Trophy Results for best Team Performance
Rank Country Points
1 France 428
2 Great Britain 400
3 Australia 378
4 Poland 314
5 Italy 314
Medal Table Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship
Class Gold Silver Bronze
Hobie GBR FRA GUA
420 Girls AUS GER GBR
420 Boys AUS FRA GBR
Laser Boys GBR CRO GER
Laser Girls FRA NZL GBR
Mistral Boys POL ISR ITA
Mistral Girls POL FRA ITA