Aon Youth Worlds - Boat allocation day at Torbay

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com NZ on 14 Dec 2016 The 2016 Aon Youth Worlds got underway today at Torbay, Auckland with the allocation of boats to the teams.

This is the 46th edition of the World Championship - run along the same lines as the Olympics, attracting the same number of competitors and nations - 380 sailors from 66 nations sailing in more than 260 boats across nine disciplines who will compete in the event which runs from Friday to Tuesday (NZT)

One of the main interest points will be the debut of the new Nacra 15 multihull - a smaller version of the Nacra 17 used at the 2016 Olympics and now to be developed into a full foiler. The classes sailed at the Youth Worlds now mirror the events sailed at the Olympics with the exception of the Finn heavyweight singlehander.

Past notable winners include American's Cup skippers, Chris Dickson (NZL), Russell Coutts (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL); Olympic medallists, Ben Ainslie (GBR), Robert Scheidt (BRA), Alessandra Sensini (ITA), Iain Percy (GBR) and Elise Rechichi (AUS); Volvo Ocean Race sailors like Stuart Bannatyne (NZL) and Richard Clarke (CAN). The most successful Youth World Champions are Great Britain's Sally Cuthbert and Poland's Zofia Klepacka having won four successive titles in the Laser II and Mistral respectively.

Australia is the current holder of the Nations Trophy, awarded annually to the top performing nation at the Youth Worlds. The Nations Trophy was first introduced in 1991 and in 1999 became the Volvo Trophy until 2010. France is the most success nation through the history of the Championship, winning the Nations Trophy on a record eleven occasions and holding a record 76 medals: 28 gold, 30 silver and 18 bronze.