Australian team named for Youth Sailing Worlds

Craig Heydon, Yachting Australia

Posted: 11  Mar. 2010

Joanna Sterling at the 2009 ISAF Worlds

The 2010 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Sailing Team has been named with 12 sailors set to represent Australia at the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey from 8-17 July.

The Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship will see sailors under the age of 19 from around the world descend on Turkey to compete in eight classes with an Australian entry in each class.

Australia has a proud history at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships having won the prestigious ISAF Volvo Trophy for best placed nation in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2007.

Australia sits top of the overall medal tally for the Championship having claimed 24 Gold medals in the event’s history, three more than closest rival Great Britain, and the team will be looking to go further ahead in 2010.

Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones is confident that the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australia Youth Sailing Team will continue the tradition of strong results this year.

“Historically, many of those who compete in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships go on to participate in and succeed at Olympic and world championship level,” said Jones.

“Australians who have done this include Elise Rechichi who won two Youth world championships before her Olympic gold medal and Nathan Outteridge who won three Youth world championship gold medals before winning two 49er World Championships and I believe that the team we’ve selected can emulate that,” he said.

“All of the sailors have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are and I’m sure they’ll do Australia proud when they hit the water in Turkey this July,” he said.

The 2010 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Sailing Team will feature sailors from across Australia with four states represented in the eight classes.

As in 2009 Queensland will again have a strong presence in the team with six athletes heading to Turkey. Joanna Sterling will contest the girl’s windsurfer class and is the only member of the team to have competed in the 2009 event in Brazil, where she finished 13th.

Sterling will be joined by fellow Queenslander Ben Franklin who will compete in the Laser Radial boy’s class. Queensland crews will represent Australia in both of the 420 divisions, with Angus Galloway and Alex Gough competing the boy’s class and Elloise Brake and Ashley Warlow in the girl’s class.

The 29er class makes a return to the Youth Sailing World Championships in 2010 and the Australian entry will be sailed by New South Welshman Byron White, who competed at the 2008 event in Denmark, and his crew Thomas Koerner.

Also from New South Wales is Alexandra South who will sail in the Laser Radial girl’s class and Paul Darmanin who will compete alongside Victorian Chase Lurati aboard a Sirena SL16 in the open multihull class. Darmanin is the younger brother of Lisa Darmanin and cousin of Jason Waterhouse who won a gold medal at the 2009 event in the same class.

West Australian Eamon Robertshaw will sail in the boy’s windsurfer class with sailors set to compete aboard the RS:X.

Joining the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Sailing Team will be team leader Kristen Kosmala from NSW and coaches Johnny Rodgers from Victoria and David Mann from Western Australia.

The OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Sailing Team will take part in a series of training camps before heading to Turkey in 2 July.

For more information: www.yachting.org.au

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