USA wins gold, silver at ISAF Youth Worlds

by Marni H Lane on 23 Jul 2007 American sailors won two impressive medals at the 2007 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Emily Dellenbaugh (Easton, Conn.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) will bring home a gold medal in the 29er Girls class, while Anne Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.) secured silver in the Laser Radial.

After a week of single-digit scores, including five bullets, the new Youth World champions won the 18-boat 29er Girls fleet with a race to spare, after the second to last day of racing was called due to thunder, lightning and light, variable winds, and they didn’t race on the final day. Their exciting win is still sinking in: 'It didn’t really hit me at first,' said skipper Dellenbaugh. 'I was a little shocked. I didn’t think it was real.'

The 29er Girls fleet stayed tight throughout the week, but Provancha said their speed helped them pull in front of the fleet, allowing them the wide-open space to cross and tack. Going into the regatta, their goal was to place in the top five. After winning the first race and seeing their goal was within reach, 'we really wanted to medal,' said Provancha, who claimed a silver medal in the 420 Girls class with crew Megan Magill in Busan, Korea two years ago.

Next up for the American duo is the 29er European Championship in Gottskar, Sweden from August 6-12, 2007, which they expect will be a fun regatta. 'It will be cool to travel and see Sweden,' said Provancha, who will attend Boston College as a freshman in the fall. Dellenbaugh will finish her senior year at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Conn. She plans to return to the Youth Worlds next summer, but unfortunately not with Provancha, who will no longer fulfill the age requirement. 'It’s going to be hard to replace Briana and return, knowing we won the year before.'

In the Laser Radial class, Haeger won a silver medal in the competitive 34-boat fleet, behind Australia’s Gabrielle King. A member of US SAILING’s US Elite Youth Development Team, she proved her prowess in lighter winds, as well as impressive boat speed. Earlier this summer, she also won a silver medal at the Laser North American Championships in Hyannis, Mass., and finished sixth at the Laser Midwinters East in Clearwater, Fla.

In addition to the medalists, the members of US SAILING’s US Youth World Team showed strong performances last week. The Californian duo of Oliver Toole (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Willie McBride (San Diego, Calif.) secured sixth in a 23-boat 29er Boys fleet. Hobie sailors Eric Raybon and Jason Bilow, both from Shrewsbury, N.J. came in eighth out of 15 boats. Luke Lawrence (Palm City, Fla.), who is also a member of the US Elite Youth Development Team, finished 11th out of a large 82-boat Laser fleet. Windsurfer James Sobeck (East Quogue, N.Y.) came in 16th out of 20 in the RS:X Boys class.

In addition to the fleet winners, Australia won the Volvo Trophy this year, with an overall high score of 259 points, in front of second place Denmark (248 points) and third place New Zealand (230 points). USA came in seventh place overall. The prestigious Trophy and Medals were awarded at the closing ceremonies Friday night. 'There’s nothing more wonderful than to stand on the podium and hear your anthem with pride and respect,' said Provancha.

More than 220 of the world's best young sailors from 52 nations competed for seven gold medals in the following classes: singlehanded Laser (boys) and Laser Radial (girls), doublehanded 29er (boys and girls), RS:X windsurfer (boys and girls) and multihull Hobie 16 with spinnaker (open). Home of the 1976 Olympic Sailing Competition, Portsmouth Olympic Harbour hosted the regatta from July 12-21. Next year’s Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships will be held in Arhus, Denmark from July 10 – 19, 2008.

For more information on the US Youth World Team, please visit: www.ussailing.org/olympics/youthworlds/2007/team.asp

For complete results and photos from the 2007 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, please visit the event web site: www.youthworlds2007.org.