Sail Canada introduces its team for the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships

2023 Youth Sailing World Championships © Sail Canada

Sail Canada is pleased to introduce its 13-member team that will represent the country at the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships to be held July 13-20 in Lake Garda, Italy.

The 2024 Canadian team will be comprised of several veterans, including Riley Macaulay from Halifax, N.S., and Nathan Pearce from North Vancouver, B.C., who will both be taking part in their third Youth Sailing World Championships.

After competing at the 2021 and 2022 editions in i420 with her sister Finlay, Riley Macaulay will now take part in the 29er competition with Ally Jones from Toronto. Nathan Pearce will represent Canada in men's kiteboarding for the third year in a row.

Claire Podolsky and Maggie Tripp from Toronto in women's i420, brothers Emil and Nikhil Damji (Vancouver) in men's i420, Sullivan Nakatsu (Hammonds Plains, N.S.) in men's ILCA 6, and Thomas Hung in men's iQFoil will all compete at this event for the second time.

Elspeth Simms (Halifax, N.S.) in ILCA 6, Callum Ruch and Nicole Otton (Toronto) in men's/mixed 29er, Claire Ramsay (Kelowna, B.C.) in women's kiteboarding, as well as Jones in 29er, will all take part in the Youth Sailing World Championships for the very first time.

The sailors in the 29er, ILCA 6 and i420 classes were selected after being the top Canadians at the 2024 Midwinters West Regatta held in March in Long Beach, California. All the others have been selected through an internal selection process.

Sail Canada's National Training Centre-West and Single Handed Coach Kyle Martin from B.C. will be the Team Leader and will be accompanied by coaches Chris Watters (National Training Centre-East, Single Handed Coach), Maddie Gillis (Youth World Team Alumni) and Gavin Pearce (kiteboarding coach).

At last year's Youth Sailing World Championships, which were held in Brazil, Annie Balasubramanian from Toronto and Sullivan Nakatsu recorded the best Canadian performances in more than a decade in ILCA 6 as they respectively finished in 11th and 12th place in the women's and men's events. Also, in men's 29er, Thomas Desrochers and Ford Amery from Toronto took the 16th position out of 30 teams, which represented the best Canadian performance since 2017.

The Youth Sailing World Championships are an important stepping stone for the sailors as they progress towards the Canadian Sailing Team and Development Squad. The event has been held annually since 1971 except for the 2020 edition, which was cancelled because of the pandemic. Among the many sailors who have competed in past editions of the Youth Sailing World Championships are Georgia Lewin-LaFrance, Ryan Wood, Coralie Vittecoq, Sam Bonin, Ryan Anderson, Annie Balasubramanian and Clara Gravely, as well as 2020 Tokyo Olympic Canadian Team member Ali ten Hove, who did so in 2012 and 2013.

Canadian team members for the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships

ILCA 6 (W)
Elspeth Simms (Halifax, N.S.-RNSYS)

ILCA 6 (M)
Sullivan Nakatsu (Hammonds Plains, N.S.-RNSYS)

29er (W)
Riley Macaulay (Halifax, N.S.-RNSYS)
Ally Jones (Toronto, ON)

29er (M/Mixed)
Callum Ruch (Toronto, ON-ABYC)
Nicole Otton (Toronto, ON-RCYC)

i420 (W)
Claire Podolsky (Toronto, ON-RCYC)
Maggie Tripp (Toronto, ON-RCYC)

i420 (M/Mixed)
Emil Damji (Vancouver, B.C.-WVYC)
Nikhil Damji (Vancouver, B.C.-WVYC)

iQFoil (M)
Thomas Hung (Vancouver, B.C.-RVYC)

Kiteboarding (M)
Nathan Pearce (North Vancouver, B.C.-RVYC)

Kiteboarding (W)
Claire Ramsay (Kelowna, B.C.-RVYC)

More information can be found on Sail Canada's website at www.sailing.ca.