State Championship set to challenge young sailors at Cruising Yacht Club of Australia

Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship 2018 © Nicholas Janzen

The state's best young sailors will descend upon the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) this weekend for the annual Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship. The World Sailing Grade 4 event, now in its 18th year, challenges the best talent from across the state in the lead-up to national and international competitions, with this year marking Club Marine's 15th consecutive year as the official naming-rights partner for the event.

"The Club Marine NSW Match Racing Championship has become renowned for discovering new talent and providing young people with pathways to success in the sailing world which is something we are extremely passionate about," says CYCA Sailing Manager Justine Kirkjian.

"We're very proud to hold the Championship each year."

Previous winners of the Championship include current World #1 Match Racing sailor, Harry Price, Olympic Gold Medallist and America's Cup Skipper, Nathan Outteridge, and many other notable sailing figures.

"Club Marine values the efforts of grassroots sailing and the development of tomorrow's sailors through the youth programs run nationally," says Club Marine NSW Distribution Manager Brent McKinnon.

"The Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship is the pinnacle of this in NSW and we are proud to have supported the event for so many years. We wish all competitors the best of luck in what is set to be a spectacular weekend on Sydney Harbour."

The two-day event is held every year over the first weekend of August, with only two Clubs ever claiming the ultimate prize. Hunter Academy of Sport took home the title for the inaugural event in 2001, but since then the CYCA's Youth Sailing Academy has demonstrated its Australian youth sailing prowess by winning every single event.

The competition, however, is fierce. More than 10 Clubs from across the state have contested the title over the event's 18-year history. This year, nine teams from five Clubs are contesting, including representatives from the CYCA, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, and Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club from NSW, as well as Sandringham Yacht Club from Victoria.

The event kicks off the youth match racing circuit in Australasia, with the CYCA's Sharp Australian Youth Match Racing Championship held 8 – 12 October and Musto International Youth Match Racing Regatta, held 26 – 30 November. Racing can be followed live throughout the event on the Youth section of the CYCA website.