This year’s Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship is set to be the most international edition of the event’s 38-year history. At 250 sailors, the current entry is already the second biggest ever for the Youth Worlds and is a reflection of the ever-expanding boundaries of the sailing world.

Event director Thomas CAPITANI NIELSEN said the large entry is a great boost as the build up to the championship intensifies. ”It’s terrific news to see every continent represented and so many sailors and nations registered to take part in this year’s Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. We’re looking forward to welcoming all the sailors and their support crew to Århus in July and are working hard to ensure this year’s event is one of the best, as well as well as being one of the biggest.”

Seven Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship titles will be up for grabs in Århus, along with the prestigious Volvo Trophy, awarded to the best performing nation at the event. Denmark is hosting the championship for the first time and unsurprisingly there is a very strong European entry this year, accounting for just over half of the registered nations. North America and the Caribbean have the second largest entry with nine nations set to make the trip across the Atlantic. In advance of next year’s Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Buzios, Brazil, Central and South America will be very well represented with sailors from eight nations competing. Seven Asian and three African nations are also set to compete, and whilst Oceania has the smallest representation at two, but that includes the Volvo Trophy winners from last year, Australia.

Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden all maintain their record of competing at every single edition of the Youth Worlds and a similar year-on-year consistency is also becoming a feature across many of the other entrants. Nations that are relatively new to the championship are beginning to return year after year, building a period of successive appearances that are testament to the positive experiences and benefits gained from the Youth Worlds. The national flags of Colombia, Cyprus, India, Latvia and the British Virgin Islands have become increasingly visible at the championship over the past few years and will be on show again in Århus this July. Cuba, Ecuador and Paraguay will be competing in only their second Youth Worlds, whilst Algeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates make their first appearance for over ten years.

For many of these nations, the ISAF Athlete Participation Programme (APP) is a key reason for their attendance at the Youth Worlds. The APP, which assists sailors with funding for travel and entry costs, is bigger than ever in 2008, with a total of 32 sailors receiving assistance. Full details of the sailors receiving funding on this year’s APP will be released later this week.
The increasingly spread of nations attending the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship is testament, not just to the increasing profile of the event, but also the growth of sailing around the world. The 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race features a new route that will bring the thrills, spills and excitement of offshore sailing to ports in Asia for the first time. Before the Volvo Open 70s and their crews of sailing stars arrive, the youngsters of India and Singapore have the chance to show they have the potential to match the achievements of sailors like Stuart BANNATYNE (NZL), Richard CLARKE (CAN) and Carolijn BROUWER (NED) - all Youth World medallists who have gone on to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race.

“The skills that are developed dinghy racing are now much sought after in the Volvo Ocean Race. Many of the crews and skippers that sail in our event are multiple Olympic medal winners and we hope very much to see some new faces in our race who have been past competitors in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship,” commented two-time Olympian and Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut FROSTAD.

The current entry numbers for the events that will be contested at the 2008 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship are listed below together with the full list of competing nations.

Events

Boy’s One Person Dinghy – Laser, 45 nations
Girl’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial, 42 nations
Boy’s Two Person Dinghy – 29er, 25 nations (50 sailors)
Girl’s Two Person Dinghy – 29er, 18 nations (36 sailors)
Boy’s Windsurfer – Neil Pryde RS:X with 8.5m rig, 29 nations
Girl’s Windsurfer – Neil Pryde RS:X with 8.5m rig, 16 nations
Open Multihull – Sirena SL16, 16 nations (32 sailors)

Competing Nations

Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bermuda
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Canada
Chile
Chinese Taipei
Colombia
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Great Britain
Greece
Hong Kong
Iceland
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea
Latvia
Lithuania
Mexico
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand
Norway
Paraguay
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Serbia
Seychelles
Singapore
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
US Virgin Islands
USA
Uruguay
Venezuela 

Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship 2008 - click here
ISAF Youth Worlds microsite - www.sailing.org/youthworlds