Youth World Qualifier winners for 2010 Youth World Team chosen

by Marni Lane on 20 Jan 2010 Eleven youth sailors have qualified for US Sailing’s 2010 Youth World Team, and will receive invitations to represent the United States at the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 8-17, 2010. Nine of these athletes were selected based on first-place finishes in their respective classes at the 2010 US Sailing International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Youth World Qualifier in Clearwater, Fla., which concluded Monday after three days of racing. The multihull team was chosen by resume and did not compete at the Youth World Qualifier.

The members of US SAILING’s 2010 Youth World Team are:

- Laser Radial (boy’s one person dinghy): Mateo Vargas (Treasure Island, Fla.)
- Laser Radial (girl’s one person dinghy): Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
- International 420s (boy’s two person dinghy): Ian Liberty (Colt’s Neck, N.J.) and Colin Murphy (New York, NY)
- International 420s (girl’s two person dinghy): Marlena Fauer (New York, N.Y.) and Christina Lewis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
- 29er (open high performance dinghy): Antoine Screve (Kentfield, Calif.) and James Moody (Tiburon, Calif.)
- RS:X with 8.5m2 sail (boy’s windsurfer) : Cullen Ahearn (Clearwater, Fla. )
- Sirena SL16 (open multihull): Taylor Palmer (Miami Shores, Fla.) and Mac Agnese (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)

No RS:X girls registered to compete in the qualifier, so the U.S. will not send an athlete in that class to Turkey.

'We have a very strong team,' said High Performance Director Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). 'This event was a true test of skill in heavy and medium air, and these sailors demonstrated they were the strongest in their fleets. We’re excited about the prospect of them winning the Volvo Youth Sailing trophy this summer.'

These young sailors are no strangers to trophies and top finishes: Last month at the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, Vargas won the Laser Radial class and Reineke was the top female, finishing fourth overall in a huge fleet of 135 boats. Last summer, Reineke also demonstrated she can compete against very tough international fleets: She finished an impressive second out of 75 boats at the European Laser Radial Youth Championship in Charlottenlund, Denmark, and 15th out of 75 boats at Kiel Week, an International Sailing Federation Sailing World Cup event held in Kiel, Germany. This is the second year in a row Liberty has been named to the Youth World Team.

Vargas, Reineke, Liberty, Fauer, Lewis, Screve, Moody and Agnese are also members of the newly-launched 2010 US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), which includes young sailors identified as Olympic hopefuls in the Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, I420, 470, 29er and 49er classes.

Hosted by the Clearwater Yacht Club, the US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier was a competitive regatta for 75 athletes in four events. Open to athletes born in 1992 or after, the event consisted of ten races over three days.

'Clearwater Yacht Club did a phenomenal job hosting the event,' said Andreasen. 'They were so hospitable, and they organized a premiere and fair regatta on the water.'

For complete results from the Youth World Qualifier, please visit Clearwater Yacht Club’s web site: http://www.regattaprocessing.com/CLWYC/YWQ10/index.php
For more information about the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, please visit the event web site: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com

US Sailing annually supports the Youth World Team, which represents the United States at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. The team members must qualify for the team each year, based on their on-the-water results at a pre-determined qualifying event or resume. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. US SAILING offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country. For more information about US Sailing, please visit: www.ussailing.org. For more information about the Youth World Team, please visit: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Teams/YWT.htm