US Sailing revises Youth Sailing Worlds athlete selection for RS:X

by Will Ricketson / US Sailing on 11 May 2017 US Sailing today announced a revision to the athlete selection procedures for American RS:X board sailing athletes aiming to represent the United States at the 2017 Youth Sailing World Championships in Sanya, China (December 9-16, 2017).

The premier event in youth sailing, and a proven pathway for future Olympic medalists, over 400 sailors from approximately 60 nations will compete at this year's edition of the Youth Worlds.

The revision to US Sailing's selection procedures was necessitated by a late-2016 shift in both the venue and dates of the Youth Worlds from Akko, Israel in July to Sanya, China in December. These changes made attendance at the RS:X Class Youth World Championships (June 24 - July 1) a more viable option for U.S. athletes hoping to earn selection for 2017 Youth Sailing World Championships in Sanya. In 2017, the RS:X Class Youth Worlds overlaps with the US Sailing U.S. Youth Championship (June 24-28, 2017), which will be held at Corpus Christ Yacht Club in Corpus Christi, Texas. Prior to this change in the selection procedures, the Youth Champs was a required event for U.S. Youth Worlds Team selection in all classes.

In an effort to give the top U.S. youth board sailors the flexibility to compete at either U.S. Youth Champs or the RS:X Youth Worlds and still earn selection to the 2017 Youth Worlds Team, US Sailing has revised the selection procedures to reflect the following:

For RS:X (both genders):

The US Sailing Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) will select by sailing resume* based on the following criteria:

All applicants must race at either the US Sailing U.S. Youth Championship in the Techno 293 Plus (June 24-28, 2017) or the RS:X Windsurfing Youth World Championship (June 24- July 1, 2017) in order to be considered for Youth Worlds selection
Regatta results
Training plan for 2017 Youth Worlds preparation
Demonstrated ability in the RS:X
*Where selection is made by resume, the OSC reserves the right to not select an athlete to send to the Youth Worlds.

US Sailing's OSC will announce the final RS:X athlete selections by July 14, 2017, two weeks after the conclusion of the U.S. Youth Champs. All qualified athletes must then sign the Athlete Code of Conduct prior to being confirmed as a apart of the 2017 US Sailing Youth Worlds Team.

To read the complete selection procedures for the 2017 US Sailing Youth Worlds Team, go here.