Yngling Worlds at Kalmar, Sweden
by yngling.org 10 Aug 2009 00:27 PDT
Dutch defend title
At the conclusion of the Yngling Open World Championship in Kalmar, Sweden Tom Otte with crew Mark Haven and Floortje De Vries defended their title from last year's success with a consistent and high level of sailing.
The Championship was organized by the the Sailing Club Kaparen and despite the light air, high pressure conditions the Race Committee managed to conduct all 10 races as scheduled with an admirable short use of signal AP.
The Dutch Yngling Team showed great success and the Yngling Youth Talent program initiated a few years ago is now paying off in results on the race course. The podium places and a majority of the top ten were claimed by Dutch Sailors. Among other nations fighting at the top was 2006 World Champion John INGALLS, Michael KOMAR and Torey PELLIGRINI from USA and youth team Martin BOIDIN, Joakim STOLBJERG-HANSEN and Matthias HAAMANN from Denmark who had just won the Youth European Championship the week before the Worlds.
Since the Yngling lost its Olympic status last year the focus has been set on the core values of the class as being one of the very few affordable International Keel Boat Classes with true intercontinental racing. This years Championship attracted 35 boats from Australia, Europe and North America. Next years Worlds is set for Lelystad in the Netherlands followed by Attersee, Austria 2011 and Sydney, Australia in 2012.
At the prize giving ceremony the Club Commodore Par KARLSSON commented they had enjoyed to host a class with such a spread in gender and age among the participants and he foresaw a bright future for the Yngling.
More information, play back of the live tracking, results and images can be found at the event website linked from yngling.org