The 49th edition of the Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships got underway in Gdynia, Poland on Monday, 15 July with 409 eager sailors from 66 nations ready to race across the nine events. 

Light winds early on caused initial postponements and made for a patient wait but in the end five fleets managed to get some racing in.

The 21-boat Nacra 15 fleet was one of the lucky ones and in a shifting 5-8 knot breeze completed three races.

The Nacra 15 fleet features numerous sailors who competed at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Argentina last year, including Australia’s Will Cooley, who partners with Rebecca Hanckock at the Youth Worlds. 

Cooley finished seventh at the Youth Olympic Games and used the experience gained to get off to a solid start in the Nacra 15 with Hancock. The pair claimed two seconds and a third which sees them tied on points with Germany’s Silas Mühle, fifth place finisher at YOG, and Leyke Möller who recorded a 1-(15)-3 scoreline. France follows in third. 

"Overall we had a very consistent day," commented Cooley. "The results came from really good teamwork and monitoring the clouds. The shifts saw big changes in positions."

Hancock added, "We were really focused on giving it our best shot and having fun. We kept focused with a clear mind and it worked out. We're looking to stay relaxed, have fun and so far, so good."

The Boys and Girls 29er, provided by Ovington Boats, are sharing boats in Gdynia with the 28-boat Boy's 29er able to complete three races in building winds but the Girl's 29er fleet were unable to race due to dying winds.

Australia’s Max Paul and Archie Cropley got off to a strong start posting a fifth, eighth and 13th place and moving into fifth position overall. They are tight on points with fourth placed Ireland. 

Much like the 29er fleets, the Boy's and Girl's 420 packs, supplied by Nautivela, are also sharing boats and just the Boy's 420 were able to complete racing. 

Ryan Littlechild and Jack Ferguson put in a 21st and 16th and move into 19th place of the 30-boat fleet.

For the Laser Radials it was a tricky day, but both the boy’s and the girl’s divisions managed to complete one race each in a light breeze. There were four general recalls in the boy’s before the fleet finally managed to get one race in, which saw Australia’s Zac Littlewood in 26th. 

The wind speed did not increase suitably for the Boy's and Girl's RS:X fleets to head out onto the water. They will look to kick start their week of racing on Tuesday. The Girl's 29er and Girl's 420 will start before the boy's divisions on Tuesday to begin their campaign.

Racing is scheduled to resume at 11:00 local time on Tuesday 16 July.
 

EVENT WEBSITE
Click here for the event website - http://worldsailingywc.org/

RESULTS
Click here for result from Gdynia
 

AUSTRALIAN TEAM RESULTS

Nacra 15 (Mixed team) Will Cooley and Rebecca Hancock (NSW): 2, (3), 3 – 2nd 

29er (Boys) Archie Cropley and Max Paul (NSW): 5, 8, (13) – 5th 

29er (Girls) Alice Buchanan and Dervla Duggan (TAS):

420 (Boys) Ryan Littlechild and Jack Ferguson (NSW): 21, 16 – 19th 

420 (Girls) Lily and Matilda Richardson (VIC):

Laser Radial (Boys) Zac Littlewood (WA): 26 – 26th 

Laser Radial (Girls) Maddie O’Shea (NSW): 42 – 42nd 

RS:X (Boys) Hamish Swain (QLD)

RS:X (Girls) Amelia Quinlan (NSW

HOW TO FOLLOW
Australian Sailing Youth Website
Daily Updates will be posted on the Australian Youth Sailing Website here: https://www.sailingyouth.org.au/home/

See the full team line-up here: https://www.sailingyouth.org.au/youth-worlds/2019-australian-youth-team/

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow @AustSailYouth on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Photos: Robert Hejduk/World Sailing

Follow the event on World Sailing's social networks and get involved in the conversation using #YouthWorlds19
Facebook - http://facebook.com/youthworlds
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/worldsailingofficial/
Twitter - @youthworlds