ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship

Limassol, Cyprus (July 15, 2013) – Over 350 from 61 nations took to the water on the opening day of the Sail First ISAF Youth Worlds, where a steady 16 knot afternoon breeze allowed for a full complement of racing across the eight events.

Leading the charge for North America is America’s Marion Lepert who tops the RS:X Girls after posting a 4-1-2. The American, who leads defending champion Saskia Sills (GBR) by four points, was understandably happy with her day. “It went well for me today, I struggled a little bit in the first race as the conditions were really light but once it’s started getting windy I got into the groove and it really worked for me.”

Coming into the opening day of racing, Sills was not at 100% but recorded a bullet in the third race, highlighting her resiliency. “I’m happy with the racing today considering I haven’t been feeling that well over the past few days,” said Sills who was nominated for the 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year.

“We had three good races, the first was fairly light, the second was the windiest and third was fairly on and off with the wind. It’s a good fleet and there are quite a few of us who are changing places and positions, but probably only two or three who are really consistent,” observed Sills.

Also starting strong were America’s Quinn and Dane Wilson, who sit third in the 29er fleet. The 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds silver and bronze medallists – Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (FRA) and Argentina’s Klaus Lange and Ignacio Varisco – sailed consistently with the French taking top spot on seven points. The Argentineans follow on nine points with the Wilsons on 11 points in third.

Racing resumes on Tuesday and continues through Friday. Click here for full report.