World Championships beckon for young Tasmanians

by Peter Campbell on 21 Jul 2010 Tasmania’s champion young sailors will be competing in world championships in Scotland, Israel and Poland this week, with strong prospects of top placings against the best in the world in the International 420, Cadet and Laser Radial dinghy classes.

Hobart lasses Lucy Shephard and Georgie Tower will compete in the International 420 class world women’s championship in Haifa, Israel, with competition starting on Thursday night, Australian time.

Lucy, 18, is the current Australian women’s champion in the 420 class as well as holding the Tasmanian and NSW titles, with 16-year-old Georgie joining her for the first time in an international competition.

A member of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and Sandy Bay Sailing Club, Lucy is a former Australian champion in the International Cadet Dinghy class and has represented Australia several times at overseas, including captaining the Australian team in the 2007 world championships in Wales at the age of 15.

Other Australian women competing Sasha and Jaime Ryan and Eloise Brake and Ashley Warlow, both crews from Queensland.

RYCT and SBSC member Alec Bailey is captain of the seven crew Australian team contesting the International Cadet World championships at Puck in Poland, with racing from next Sunday, 26 July, through to 31 July.

Bailey, 17, and his crew, his sister Samantha, finished a luckless third overall at last year’s worlds in South America and are considered among the favourites in the 81 boat fleet for this year’s championship.

Also representing SBSC in their first Cadet worlds will be Ella Conner and Hannah Chadwick while other Australians competing are Ian Lee and Alex Broxka, Amton Sasson and Julian Sasson, Isabella Say and Ben Brill, Jackie Stokes and Katie Mullens and Ashleigh Dyer and Georgina Hughes.

Two Tasmanian lads, Angus Barton from Launceston and Zac Pullen from Hobart, are among five Australians in the 220 boat fleet contesting the Laser Radial under 19 youth world championship at Largs in Scotland, starting tonight (Tuesday, Australian time).

While living in Launceston, Barton has done most of his preparation for the worlds on Hobart’s River Derwent where 'the competition is strongest and my coach, Richard Scarr, is based.'

'In addition to sailing on the Tamar, I’ve been going down to Hobart every second weekend for coaching and fleet racing in the lead-up to the Worlds,' Angus said before heading overseas.

Angus is a member of the Tamar Yacht Club, the Port Dalrymple Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and is captain of the Launceston Grammar School sailing team. Zac is a member of the RYCT Dinghy Group.

In addition to Barton and Pullen, other Australians competing are Nicholas Howe, Joe McMillan and Matthew Wearn.