2010 US SAILING Youth World Qualifier

Eleven youth sailors have qualified for US SAILING's 2010 Youth World Team, and will receive invitations to represent the United States at the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, from 8-17 July 2010.

Nine of these athletes were selected based on first-place finishes in their respective classes at the 2010 US SAILING Youth World Qualifier in Clearwater, Florida, which concluded Monday after three days of racing. The multihull team was chosen by resume and did not compete at the Youth World Qualifier.

Ian Liberty, pictured left competing at the 2009 Youth Worlds, is
one of 11 US team members heading to Istanbul in 2010

©Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

The members of US SAILING’s 2010 Youth World Team are:

Event	Equipment	Team Member
Boy’s One Person Dinghy	Laser Radial	Mateo Vargas
Girl’s One Person Dinghy	Laser Radial	Erika Reineke
Boy’s Windsurfer	RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin	Cullen Ahearn
Girl’s Windsurfer	RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin	-
Boy’s Two Person Dinghy	420	Ian Liberty and Colin Murphy
Girl’s Two Person Dinghy	420	Marlena Fauer and Christina Lewis
Open High Performance Dinghy	29er	Antoine Screve and James Moody
Open Multihull	Sirena SL16	Taylor Palmer and Mac Agnese

No RS:X girls registered to compete in the qualifier, so the U.S. will not send an athlete in that class to Turkey.

“We have a very strong team,” said High Performance Director Kenneth Andreasen. “This event was a true test of skill in heavy and medium air, and these sailors demonstrated they were the strongest in their fleets. We’re excited about the prospect of them winning the Volvo Trophy this summer.”

These young sailors are no strangers to trophies and top finishes: Last month at the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, Vargas won the Laser Radial class and Reineke was the top female, finishing fourth overall in a huge fleet of 135 boats. Last summer, Reineke also demonstrated she can compete against very tough international fleets: She finished an impressive second out of 75 boats at the European Laser Radial Youth Championship in Charlottenlund, Denmark, and 15th out of 75 boats at Kieler Woche, an ISAF Sailing World Cup event held in Kiel, Germany. This is the second year in a row Liberty has been named to the Youth World Team.

Vargas, Reineke, Liberty, Fauer, Lewis, Screve, Moody and Agnese are also members of the newly-launched 2010 US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), which includes young sailors identified as Olympic hopefuls in the Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, I420, 470, 29er and 49er classes.

Hosted by the Clearwater Yacht Club, the US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier was a competitive regatta for 75 athletes in four events. Open to athletes born in 1992 or after, the event consisted of ten races over three days.

“Clearwater Yacht Club did a phenomenal job hosting the event,” said Andreasen. “They were so hospitable, and they organized a premiere and fair regatta on the water.”

For complete results from the Youth World Qualifier, please visit Clearwater Yacht Club’s website: