World Sailing has announced that the 2020 Youth Sailing World Championships have been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Above image: 2019 Youth Sailing World Championship , credit Robert Hadjuk / World Sailing 

The regatta was originally scheduled to take place from 12-19 December in Salvador, Brazil.

Australian Sailing had recently announced the selections for the Australian Sailing Youth Team (ASYT) to compete at the event. Those athletes will remain as a part of the 2020 ASYT, but the team will be re-selected for the 2021 Youth World Sailing Championships. 

“This is obviously incredibly disappointing news for the athletes, coaches, support staff and families,” said Australian Sailing President Daniel Belcher. “They have committed and sacrificed so much to earn their selection, and whilst we know this news will be upsetting, we do understand the reasoning.”

In its 50-year history, the Youth Worlds regularly attracts the best youth sailors from upwards of 60 nations. World Sailing’s Board of Directors and the Confederação Brasileira de Vela (CBVela) agreed to cancel the event in anticipation of global travel restrictions and to ensure the health and well-being of athletes, coaches, parents, officials and suppliers.

Australian Sailing will work with the impacted athletes and coaches to ensure that they are supported through the process.

“These are young athletes with so much of their sailing careers ahead of them,” Belcher went on to say. “This is not the end for them, rather it is just the beginning.” 

The fourteen athletes selected to the team come from five states, having earned their spot on the team after their performances at Class National Championships and the 2020 Australian Youth Championships over the 2019/2020 summer.

World Sailing and CBVela are now discussing the possibility of hosting the Youth Worlds in Brazil at the earliest opportunity. 

The 2021 edition of the Youth Worlds will take place in The Hague, The Netherlands in July 2021.

2020 Australian Sailing Youth Team:

Int 29er Boys:                    Ethan Galbraith and Charles Zeeman (TAS)

Int 29er Girls:                     Zoe Dransfield and Maddie Mcleay (NSW)

Int 420 Boys:                     Linus Talacko and Lachlan Grogan (VIC)

Int 420 Girls:                      Bridget Conrad and India Gilbert (NSW)

Laser Radial Boys:            Michael Compton (WA)

Laser Radial Girls:             Mina Ferguson (NSW)

Nacra 15:                           Georgia Payne and Nathan Bryant (WA/NSW)

Techno 293 Plus:              Grae Morris (NSW)

Techno 293 Plus:              Amelia Quinlan (NSW)