U.S. Youth Sailing World Championship team start racing in Sanya, China

US Sailing Team © Will Ricketson

Racing began on Monday at the 2017 Youth World Sailing Championship in Sanya, China (December 11-16) and 14 American athletes are amongst the 374 competitors from 60 nations at the world's premier junior sailing event. US Sailing comes into the regatta with a strong team comprised of both Youth Worlds veterans and rookies, and following the successful completion of three Youth Worlds Team domestic training camps, which were held in San Francisco and Florida, and overseen by US Sailing's Olympic Development Program (ODP).

"The Youth Worlds Team is one of our main focuses every year," said Leandro Spina (Miami, Fla.) US Sailing's Olympic Development Director and Team Leader for Sanya 2017. "This is the pinnacle event in youth sailing. It's a very good focus, and a very good goal to have to represent the U.S. and to be on the podium at this event."

The 2017 team will look to follow a strong performance by the 2016 team, which came away from Auckland 2016 with three medals in the nine contested classes. One of those podium performances was delivered by Ian Brill (San Diego, Calif.), who took silver in the Nacra 15 multihull last year before deciding to chase another medal this year with new teammate Neil Marcellini (Lafayette, Calif.) in the 29er skiff. Marcellini has proven himself to be highly competitive on the international level, having finished 10th at the most recent 29er Worlds, held in Long Beach, Calif. Brill was chosen by his teammates as the opening ceremony flag bearer for the U.S., and will chase the rare feat of medaling in two different classes at the Youth Worlds.

In the Girls's 29er, Berta Puig (Key Biscayne, Fla.) and Charlotte Mack (Stuart, Fla.) steadily worked their way up through the domestic and international ranks before placing 8th at the U.S. Youth Champs and Qualifying for Youth Worlds. Puig and Mack were also the top female U.S. finishers at the 2017 29er Midwinters West.

In the Girls 420, Carmen Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) enter the event with a strong track record of international racing experience. The sisters took 11th at the 2017 I420 Europeans, and were the 4th female team at the 2017 I420 Junior Europeans Championship.

Boys 420 skipper Thomas Rice (Garden City, N.Y.) is no stranger to major championships, having won the 2015 Opti Europeans and the 2017 I420 Gulf Coast Championship. Crew Trevor Bornath (Stuart, Fla.) has achieved podium results at the 2017 Youth Champs (3rd) and the 2017 I420 Midwinters (2nd).

In the Laser Radial, Charlotte Rose (Houston, Texas) took 3rd at the Open Youth Radial Worlds in 2017, and should be a strong contender in Sanya. Boys representative Joseph Hou (Newport Beach, Calif.) continues a strong tradition of Newport Beach laser sailing, and has won both the U.S. Youth Champs in the Laser Radial and the High School Nationals in the full-rigged Laser.

In the Nacra 15 multihull, Mark Brunsvold (Sarasota, Fla.) and Dylan Heinz (Sarasota, Fla.) won the 2017 U.S. Youth Champs, and Brunsvold brings previous Youth Worlds experience to the team. Brunsvold finished 6th at Youth Worlds in 2015 with his brother Anderson in the SL16 multihull, and returns to the big stage for a second shot at the podium with fellow Floridian Heinz.

In the RS:X, boy's representative Steven Cramer (Miami Beach, Fla.) is a winner of the 2016 Youth Champs, and in 2017 qualified for gold fleet at both the RS:X Youth Worlds and the Techno Plus Worlds. In the girls' fleet, Dominique Stater (who currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina) has competed internationally at board sailing events in France, Canada and Poland.

The coaching staff for the team is comprised of Leandro Spina, Steve Keen (Stamford, Conn.) and Rosie Chapman (Houston, Texas).