Developing the sport around the world

As the world governing body for the sport of sailing, World Sailing seeks to help develop the sport around the world, an example of which was the four-day Emerging Nations Programme training camp held ahead of the 2019 Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships in Gdansk, Poland

Eighteen sailors representing 18 nations accepted invitations which covered the entry into the event, flight assistance and attendance at the training camp. World Sailing also provided coaching assistance for the training camp and the event itself.

At the training camp, they focused on race preparation, including starts and mark roundings so they came into the event fully prepared to compete against some of the best youth sailor talent in the world. Nine nations were included in each of the Girls and Boys Laser Radial fleets:

Radial Girls: Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman, Chinese Taipei, India, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Turks and Caicos, and Venezuela.

Radial Boys: Belize, British Virgin Islands, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Latvia, Malaysia, Netherlands Antilles, Paraguay, and Serbia.

A total of 409 sailors from 66 nations are racing in one of the nine events at the 49th edition of the Youth Worlds from July 15 to 19.

Event details – Results – Facebook

About the Youth Worlds:
The Youth Worlds was first held in Sweden in 1971. The 2019 Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships will be the 48th edition of the championship.

More than 400 sailors from 66 nations are racing on boats supplied by Ovington Boats (Boy’s and Girl’s 29er), Nautivela (Boy’s and Girl’s 420), Laser Performance / Maclaren (Boy’s and Girl’s Laser Radial) and Nacra Sailing (Mixed Nacra 15). The RS:X racers are sailing on their own equipment for 2019.

The championship attracts only the best youth sailors from around the world and competition is notoriously tough as competitors are selected by their Member National Authority (MNA) from a host of eligible sailors within each nation.

Past notable winners include American’s Cup skippers, Chris Dickson (NZL), Russell Coutts (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL); Olympic medallists, Nathan Outteridge (AUS), Iain Jensen (AUS), Robert Scheidt (BRA), Amelie Lux (GER), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Iain Percy (GBR), Alessandra Sensini (ITA), Elise Rechichi (AUS) and Tessa Parkinson (AUS); Volvo Ocean Race sailors like Stuart Bannatyne (NZL) and Richard Clarke (CAN).

Source: World Sailing