Australian Team Ready to Take on the World

by Megan Seton on 22 Dec 2000 The 2000 Volvo Australian Youth Team are heading into their final week of
preparation for the 2000 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, the
premier youth sailing event.

Four of the eight team members have been in Sydney this week, training from
HMAS Penguin in Balmoral, the home of Australia’s successful Olympic Sailing
Team, and according to Team Leader Erik Stibbe, this team will also do well.

“Everyone is pretty happy with their preparations,” said Stibbe. “We’re
working on some finer details over the last couple of days and building up
some confidence in the team members.

The team is due to have a short break over the Christmas period, then it
will be back into Sydney to start team preparations on Boxing Day.

Ian Trelevan, Head of Musto/Line 7, a supporter of the team, has offered to
take the athletes and coaches out on his boat to watch the start of the
Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race on Boxing Day. Then it’s back into the
serious preparations as the team prepares for the Opening Ceremony on Friday
29 December and the start of competition on Saturday 30 December.

The 2000 Volvo Australian Youth Team Members are:
Cameron Harrison (Mistral Boys)
Allison Shreeve (Mistral Girls)
Jacinta Baker (Byte)
Ben Austin (Laser)
Melissa Bryant and Martha Leonard (420 Girls)
Gavin Fee and Tom Burger (420 Boys)
For further information, visit the event website at
http://www.boatingoz.com.au/~volvoyouth.htm