Numbers continue to swell for the 2019 Australian Youth Championships presented by the Australian Maritime College, bolstered by huge numbers of local champions and international challengers ready to take on the competition on the River Derwent in just a few weeks’ time.
The Tasmanian government through Events Tasmania is a major supporter of the event with Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania hosting the Youths between 10 – 14 January, 2019.
The Australian Youth Championships is a selection qualifier for Australian youth sailors to be selected to represent Australia at the 2019 Youth World Sailing Championships, to be held in Gdynia, Poland in July 2019.
2018 NSW State 29er champions Archie Cropley and Max Paul look to be the team to watch in their class, having continued that good form in winning convincingly at Sail Sydney last week. Likewise, Melbourne twins Matilda and Lily Richardson will be looking to defend the girls 420 national title they took out at Royal Queensland almost twelve months ago.
This event will bring together all the top youth sailors from around the country in one location, with a number of overseas competitors joining them on the starting line. Already registered are a number of kiwi teams, along with several Japanese sailors who are using the event as preparation for their own campaigns towards the 2019 Youth Worlds. Egao Sunaga will be sailing the Laser Radial, and she expressed her excitement to be joining the competition when she said “I want to level myself up competing with the big fleet”.
Likewise Kawano Riku from Japan will be sailing in the Laser 4.7 class, and is very keen to win the division to qualify for the Laser Class World Championship which will be held in Japan in 2019. Kawano wishes “to learn about the differences between foreign athletes and make use of that experience in the future competitions". He is expecting strong competition and challenging weather conditions.
It is now a month until the start of Australian Youth Championships and the entries continue to grow.
You can enter and see current entries HERE
2019 Youth Selection Policy
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