All ready for Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF Worlds

by Lizzie Ward on 14 Jul 2007 Racing starts in earnest on Saturday 14 July at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship with three races scheduled for each class of boat: Lasers for the boys, Laser Radials for the girls, Hobie 16s (boys and girls sailing together) 29-ers (separate girls and boys boats), and the RS:X windsurfers (separate fleets for the boys and girls), will race over three courses in the stretch of water between Kingston and Wolfe Island.

Although Lake Ontario offers arguably the best lake sailing in the world, currents can be an issue here as the lake, the last in the chain of Great Lakes, forms the beginning of the St Lawrence River and the currents curl around Wolfe Island which is directly opposite Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, the event centre and legacy from the 1976 Olympic Games.

But, before the crews take to the water, tonight they paraded through the streets of Kingston, led by a mounted police woman and motorbike outriders, bearing their country¹s national flag. The parade culminated in an official opening ceremony where, in a symbolic gesture, a representative from each country emptied a vial of water brought with them from their home sailing waters into a large ceremonial vase.

The Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship 2007 has 222 athletes from 50 nations taking part. Results will be available daily from the official website: http://youthworlds2007.org/results.shtml

Download the daily podcast now: http://youthworlds2007.org/podcast.shtml