Kiwi Youth Sailors arrive in Cyprus for ISAF Youth World Champs

by Jodie Bakewell-White on 13 Jul 2013
Nine sailors and three support staff who make up the 2013 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team have arrived in Europe in the countdown to racing at this year’s ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.

Limassol, Cyprus plays host to this year’s prestigious youth regatta which gathers together national teams from around the world and runs from 13-20 July 2013.

Now in Limassol the focus for the young kiwi sailors is on acclimatisation – getting over jet lag, the change of temperature and getting familiar with the venue.

'The team has arrived safely and we’ve had a good day of getting organised, team meetings and visiting the boat park to see the sailing facility,' says Karin Adelinger, Team Support in Cypress. We ended the day with team dinner and cake to celebrate Andrew’s (McKenzie) 18th birthday.'

Racing starts on Monday 15th with the coming weekend dedicated to registration, allocation of equipment, training and practice racing. Changing from tradition there will be no rest day once racing is underway and sailors will need to be prepared for five days of intense fleet racing against the worlds’ best in their class.

'We are all looking forward to going,' continues Ian Neely. 'I believe it will be a challenging and tricky event to perform to potential this year – all the sailors have worked amazingly well and I am confident they are as well prepared as they can be.'

'The hard work has been done – now its game time.'

The NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team includes…

Andrew McKenzie (Kohimarama Yacht Club) – Laser Radial
Isaac McHardie (Hamilton Yacht Club) – SL16 Multihull helm
Micah Wilkinson (Ngaroto Sailing Club) – SL16 Multihull crew
Sam Barnett (Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club) – Boy’s 420 helm
Zak Merton (Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club) – Boy’s 420 crew
Olivia Mackay (Napier Sailing Club) – Girl’s 420 helm
Abby Goodwin (Napier Sailing Club) – Girl’s 420 crew
Markus Somerville (Wakatere Boating Club) – 29er helm
Jack Simpson (Wakatere Boating Club) – 29er crew

Team support
Ian Neely, Jim Maloney and Karin Adelinger

The regatta schedule:
Saturday 13th July: Registration and equipment allocation
Sunday 14th July: Training day and practice racing
Monday 15th – Friday 19th July: Competition Racing (no rest day)

Follow the Event

The 2013 Sail First ISAF Youth Worlds Live Blog will be following the event from 15-19 July. View it on the ISAF website http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2013/live-blog.php!click_here

Each course has its own Twitter account. @ISAFyw13_Alpha will be following the Laser Radials and 29er, @ISAFyw13_Bravo will be focusing on the RS:X windsurfers and @ISAFyw13_Charli will keep an eye on the 420s and SL16 fleets.