Field Grows for Star Junior World Champs

The entry list of the 2019 Star Junior World Championship is shaping up ahead of the regatta that will be held in Miami’s Biscayne Bay. More than 30 under 30 skippers are entered and will try to capture the first ever Junior trophy of one of the oldest and most prestigious sport association in history, the International Star Class.

The skippers are able to choose a crew without age limitations, in order match some less experienced skippers, even coming from a non-Star background, to a more skilled crew capable of introducing the younger sailors to Star racing. Two races per day are scheduled on Biscayne Bay, February 4-6, 2018.

Star Sailors League Finals 2017 winner and 2014 Star World Champion, Frithjof Kleen (GER) will join the event crewing for talented Italian Laser Radial World Champion Guido Gallinaro. Gallinaro won the 2016 Bacardi Cup in 2016 in Miami.

“We are from the same club”, said Frithjof Kleen (Frida), “Fraglia Vela Riva in Riva del Garda, Italy. Guido Gallinaro has been training with us at the Star Sailors League (SSL) Training Center since October for the SSL Finals 2018 and I can easily say he is a Star sailor now. He did very well in Nassau for the Star Sailors League with his crew Kilian Weise.

“Weise will be in Miami for the Juniors sailing with Thomas Allart, the Dutch skipper. They finished third at the Eastern Europeans. I expect Guido will do well here and at the European Championship in Riva del Garda in May, the SSL Breeze Grand Slam SSL 2500.”

Frithjof is also one of the three board members of the Star Class Legacy Foundation that worked hard to put on this first Star Junior World Championship, with him, Larry Whipple from the USA and Alberto Zanetti from Argentina.

“The goal is to have the Junior Worlds every year, alternating Miami in February and Riva del Garda in October,” said Kleen, “to keep the class lively with the entrance of new generations. It is a way to show young sailors that they should consider the Star class, with its long tradition and the great champions that are still racing.”

“It is great to be able to attend the Under 30 Worlds with Frida”, said Guido Gallinaro, “I loved the boat when I first raced in Nassau with that special format and the incredible line-up. After that experience I couldn’t have missed this event. In Nassau I received so much energy and support from the champions. I am very happy to go to Miami and after this I will also attend the Europeans in Riva. After, I will study full speed for my final high school exams in June.”

Also registered are Thomas Allart (NED) and Kilian Weise (GER), runner ups at the 2018 Eastern Hemisphere Championship in Trieste, Danny Cayard (USA), the Argentinian born Thomas Hornos (USA), Laser Olympic sailor Lorenzo Brando Chiavarino (ITA), local sailor Zachary Hansman (USA) and Argentinian Finn sailor Facundo Olezza.

Event Details – Entry List – Facebook

Source: International Star Class Yacht Racing Association