Young Brits geared up for 2009 ISAF Youth Worlds

RYA Volvo Team GBR sailors for 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF Worlds: Back (l-r) Oscar McVeigh, Hannah Tilley, Rosie Sibthorp, Ben Gratton. Front: (l-r) Ali Masters, Izzy Hamilton, Rebecca Kalderon, Phil Sparks. Not pictured Adam Butler & Nikki Boniface © Marc Turner / RYA

RYA Youth Racing Manger Duncan Truswell is urging his young charges to “enjoy and learn” as 10 of Britain’s up-and-coming sailors headed for Brazil yesterday (Monday 6 July) to represent RYA Volvo Team GBR at the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships.

Around 280 of the World’s top Olympic hopefuls of the future will converge on Buzios, some 100 miles north of Rio, for the prestigious annual regatta, which gets underway on Thursday (9 July).

Eight of the sailors were selected for Brazil following their performances at the 2009 RYA Volvo Youth National Championships and Trials in Largs in April while Hobie 16 catamaran pair Adam Butler and Nikki Boniface got the nod after a head-to-head selection duel with their closest rivals at May’s Eurocat event in France.

All but one of the young team will be making their ISAF Youth Worlds debuts in Brazil, girls’ windsurfer Izzy Hamilton having enjoyed her first event appearance in Denmark last year.

Truswell, one of three RYA support staff accompanying the sailors to Buzios, believes the youngsters should be looking to take as much from the experience as they possibly can.

He said:“The ISAF Youth Worlds is quite a different event to what the sailors are used to because it’s delivered in a multiclass Olympic format on a very large scale. Most importantly is that we go there, enjoy it and learn as much as we can from the experience and there is no better regatta for young sailors to learn at really.

“We have got some very young sailors who will be going for the experience and some sailors going very much for the outcome. It is our aim to provide a whole team environment that’s supportive, honest and open and which we hope will be the right environment for all the sailors to achieve whatever it is they are capable of.”

With multiple Olympic gold medallists Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy, Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb among the many high-profile Brits who have represented their country at the celebrated Under 19 event, the class of 2009 cannot wait to have the chance to follow in their heroes’ footsteps.

Boys’ Radial representative Oscar McVeigh said: “It’s amazing to think that you’re representing your country at a really huge international event and that we will be going to Brazil and given all this amazing help to try to perform to the best of our abilities.”

Meanwhile 2008 veteran Hamilton said: “I’d like to finish in the top 10 in Brazil, and may be hopefully the top five, but until you know who you’re up against and what the conditions are going to be like it’s hard to pinpoint an exact result.”

At 15, girls’ Radial sailor Hannah Tilley is the youngest member of RYA Volvo Team GBR. She added: “For me the event is just all about getting as much as I can out of the experience, competing against foreign sailors and just seeing what it is all about at international level.”

The Volvo Trophy will be awarded to the overall top performing nation with RYA Volvo Team GBR defending the trophy that they clinched in Denmark last year.

With RYA Volvo Team GBR once again being supported by Musto for the ISAF Youth Worlds, racing is scheduled to start on Saturday 11 July with each class set to contest 12 races over the course of six days’ of racing. Tuesday 14 July is scheduled to be a lay day with prizes awarded on Friday 17 July.

To learn more about all the RYA Volvo Team GBR sailors competing in Buzios visit the new RYA website.

RYA Volvo Team GBR squad for 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships, Buzios, Brazil: (9-18 July)

420
Boys: Philip Sparks (Christchurch, Dorset) / Ben Gratton (Guildford, Surrey)
Girls: Rebecca Kalderon (Wimbledon, London) / Rosie Sibthorp (Thames Ditton, Surrey)

RS:X
Boys: Ali Masters (Clevedon, North Somerset)
Girls: Izzy Hamilton (Bude, Cornwall)

Laser Radial
Boys: Oscar McVeigh (Southfields, London)
Girls: Hannah Tilley (Llandenny, Monmouthshire)

Hobie 16
Adam Butler (Christchurch, Dorset) / Nikki Boniface (Polegate, East Sussex)