Racing is underway at the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships at the beautiful venue of Lake Garda, Italy with 14 US Youth Team athletes competing across 9 classes. Athletes were selected based on the US Sailing Athlete Selection System and Requirements for the Youth Sailing World Championships.
The Youth Sailing World Championships bring together over 400 top youth sailors from over 70 countries racing across 10 miles of Lake Garda shoreline.
“Team USA is ready for the competition ahead,” shared Youth Performance Manager and Team Leader Phil Muller following the practice races, pointing out that they proved to be “a good opportunity to identify what to expect in each racing area, and confirm a lot of what we know about this venue.”
Lake Garda is an esteemed sailing venue, known for the “Ora,” – the name for the southerly breeze that funnels down the lake. “There’s still a lot of learning to do and this racetrack demands high execution of fundamentals,” said Muller.
The US Youth Team athletes are reveling in the opportunity to represent the USA against the world’s best. “Racing against teams from other countries is super exciting because even though it’s tough competition on the water, you still get to make friends with and meet many different people from all different types of backgrounds.” said International 420 Class athlete, Michelle Kaneti.
After two days of racing, Team USA has 7 top 10 rankings, including 4 classes in the top 5.
Overall Results as of July 17:
- Male/Mixed Skiff – 29er
- 6th place: Fynn & Pierce Olsen (Miami Beach, FL)
- Female Skiff – 29er
- 5th place: Molly Bonham (Annapolis, MD) & Annie Sitzmann (Severna Park, MD)
- Male/Mixed Two Person Dinghy – i420
- 8th place: Freddie Parkin (Riverside, CT) & Estella Morris (Larchmont, NY)
- Female Two Person Dinghy – i420
- 5th place: Ava McAliley (Miami, FL) & Michelle Kaneti (Mamaroneck, NY)
- Male One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6
- 25th place: Jake Homberger (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
- Female One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6
- 4th place: Isabella Mendoza Cabezas (Miami, FL)
- Male Windsurfer – Youth iQFOiL
- 6th place: Makani Andrews (Kaneohe, HI)
- Female Windsurfer – Youth iQFOiL
- 17th place: Sage Andrews (Kaneohe, HI)
- Mixed Two Person Multihull – Nacra 15
- 4th place: Dylan Tomko (Canyon Lake, TX) & Casey Small (Houston, TX)
The experience of competing at Youth Worlds is unlike any other and the young athletes are greatly appreciative of their time at Lake Garda. Before week’s end, 29er Class sailor, Fynn Olsen has plans to “Do everything I can and leave it all on the racecourse.”
“World Sailing this year is pulling out all the stops, as you can imagine the food is incredible and the host has scheduled entertainment every day for the competitors,” said Muller on the overall experience the competitors and coaches are having. “But all one really needs to do is look up at the mountains cradling this town. Everywhere you look new beauty is revealed. We are extremely lucky this week to have this opportunity.”
Day 1 Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhZxS4s7I4o
Day 2 Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1de8IAsbpBQ
To follow along:
Youth Sailing World Championships News: https://worldsailingywc.org/competition/
US Sailing Youth Racing Central Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youthracingcentral/
Live Race Tracking: https://www.metasail.com/live/582/
Results: https://worldsailingywc.org/2024-results-centre/
YouTube Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@WorldSailingTV/streams