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Success at the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships

A unified team returns with more than medals from Lake Garda
23 Jul 24
 

2024 Youth Sailing World Championship, Lake Garda, Italy. The world’s brightest talents will put on a show between 13-20 July for a shot at sailing glory with medals up for grabs across 11 events on Italy’s largest lake. The 29er Skiff, 420, ILCA 6 as well as the Mixed Two Person Multihull, the Nacra 15 make up the offering of classes and events across the week. More than 400 sailors will descend across five clubs on the lake with a host of countries from around the world represented in the fold, including those on the Emerging Nations Program.credit World Sailingcredit World Sailing

Following five days of competition at Italy’s Lake Garda, the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships have concluded with the talents of the British Youth Sailing Team making a lasting impact at the event, ultimately placing third in the Nations Trophy. 

A team united in their sailing efforts, 16 young British athletes competed in 11 individual events, facing off against over 400 competitors from over 70 nations. Dubbed the ‘Youth Olympics’ for sailing, the championships attract upcoming talents from around the world, with only one entry per nation permitted for each race category.  For some, it acts as a stepping stone as they set their sights on their Olympic dreams but for others, it is a chance to celebrate their love of sailing within a global community. 

An action-packed event, this year saw success with seasoned regatta athlete Darcey Shaw earning a silver medal in iQFOiL windsurfing while Charlie Gran returned to the competition alongside new partner, Finian Morris to claim silver in the 29er pairing. 

Windsurfer Darcey reflects on her time at the competition, stating: “It was a great event at a great venue, creating some nice consistent results. I’m very happy to get another medal at the Youth Worlds, and a one up from last year!” 

Finian Morris, 29er sailor and medallist also commented: “Charlie and I were thrilled to finish second at the Youth Worlds. It was an amazing event which we enjoyed a lot. Overall, we were happy with our results, and we now know that we have what it takes to win.” 

Charlie Gran added: “We're absolutely thrilled to come second at the Youth Worlds and being so close to taking the win. [I'm] so glad to be achieving this goal with Fin and [we're] looking forward to taking confidence from this event.” 

2024 Youth Sailing World Championship, Lake Garda, Italy. The world’s brightest talents will put on a show between 13-20 July for a shot at sailing glory with medals up for grabs across 11 events on Italy’s largest lake. The 29er Skiff, 420, ILCA 6 as well as the Mixed Two Person Multihull, the Nacra 15 make up the offering of classes and events across the week. More than 400 sailors will descend across five clubs on the lake with a host of countries from around the world represented in the fold, including those on the Emerging Nations Program.credit World Sailingcredit World Sailing

Full competition GBR results can be found below: 

Female Windsurfer (iQFOiL)
Silver: Darcey Shaw (Parkstone Yacht Club)

Male/Mixed Skiff (29er)
Silver: Finian Morris & Charlie Gran (Royal Lymington Yacht Club/Hayling Island Sailing Club)

Female Kiteboarding (Formula Kite)
4th: Emma Rennie (Parkstone Yacht Club)

Male/Mixed Two Person Dinghy (420)
7th: Arwen Fflur & Matthew Rayner (Welsh National Sailing Academy - Plas Heli/Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club)

Female Skiff (29er)
8th: Annabelle Vines & Amelie Hiscocks (Royal Lymington Yacht Club/WPNSA)

Mixed Multihull (Nacra 15)
11th: Eloise Smith & Ollie Laker (Starcross Yacht Club/Weston Sailing Club)

Female Two Person Dinghy (420) 
12th: Sabine Potter & Merle Nieuwland (Warsash Sailing Club/Cardiff Yacht Club)

Male Kiteboarding (Formula Kite) 
12th: Oli Evans (Parkstone Yacht Club)

Male Windsurfer (iQFOiL) 
16th: Will Ziegler (Queen Mary Sailing Club)

Female Dinghy (ILCA 6)
17th: Amélie Hacker (Aldeburgh Yacht Club)

Male Dinghy (ILCA 6)
31st: Hamish Collingridge (Waldringfield Sailing Club)

2024 Youth Sailing World Championship, Lake Garda, Italy. The world’s brightest talents will put on a show between 13-20 July for a shot at sailing glory with medals up for grabs across 11 events on Italy’s largest lake. The 29er Skiff, 420, ILCA 6 as well as the Mixed Two Person Multihull, the Nacra 15 make up the offering of classes and events across the week. More than 400 sailors will descend across five clubs on the lake with a host of countries from around the world represented in the fold, including those on the Emerging Nations Program.credit World Sailingcredit World Sailing

Oli Woodcock, RYA Youth Racing Manager at the Youth Sailing World Championships, commented: “All of the British Youth sailors should be really proud of how they performed last week. It was a really challenging regatta, attended by all of the best sailors from around the world making sure any mistake would be punished.  

“It’s fantastic to see the improvement on last year’s medal count, and to retain third place in the Nations Trophy. We are still a long way off the Italians, who dominated the event on home waters, winning six out of the 11 fleets! It was clear they had spent a significant amount of time in the venue to prepare for this event and the system they set up six years ago is working well. Looking to the future, we will continue to take learnings from their approach where they can benefit our team.  

“All the sailors learnt a lot from the experience, leaving as even better sailors. There is no doubt that this event will help them going forward into a summer of events, as well as their future sailing careers.” 

You can find more information on the Youth Sailing World Championships at worldsailingywc.org