It’s the eve of competition at the 2021 Youth Sailing World Championships presented by Hempel. Taking place at the Barceló Mussanah Resort in Oman, the 433 sailors from 56 nations took part in practice races during Sunday afternoon, before celebrating this global gathering of young sailing talent at the official Opening Ceremony later in the evening.

The practice racing is a useful exercise not just for the competitors getting used to their supplied equipment, but also for the race committee and mark layers to make sure the necessary teamwork is running well. Racing commences on Monday 13 December and runs for five days through to the conclusion of the event on Friday 17 December.

With 8 knots of wind, it was good hiking weather for the ILCA 6 singlehanded sailors. Ireland’s Eve McMahon, a class World Champion from Lake Garda earlier in the summer, started well and rounded in sixth place at the first windward mark. Superior downwind speed carried the Irish sailor to first by the bottom of the course, although Uruguay’s Agnese Caiafa overtook for the lead.

However, just before the finish, Caiafa, McMahon along with most of the fleet peeled away from the course and never crossed the line. The same was true in other fleets too, the sailors following a widely held superstition that it’s unlucky to finish the practice race.

“I never planned to finish the race,” said McMahon, “but it was good to get out there and experience the conditions.” McMahon is considered to be one of the podium favourites although she says she’s more focused on sailing well and seeing how things work out in the end.

For Cristina Castellanos it was an opportunity to start with 45 boats on the line. Guatemala’s female ILCA6 representative is excited to be competing against the best youth sailors from around the world. “At home we are lucky if we have more than 10 boats on the start line so this is really exciting to be sailing in such a big fleet,” she smiled.

In the boys’ windsurfing division, the Techno 293+ Male, Federico Pilloni is looking to bring home a medal for Italy. First in the class world championships a month ago, the 15 year old is young even at this Under 19 event. But the Sardinian is feeling fit and ready to go fast in conditions that are likely to test aerobic fitness to maximum capacity. “I’m excited to get racing, feeling ready,” said Pilloni, whose national team coach is a legend of Olympic windsurfing and a hero of Italy – the five time Olympic medallist Alessandra Sensini.

“I never won the Youth Worlds,” said Sensini, who competed three times in the late 80s, “but three times in third place. I love this event. As a young sailor it gives you a great sense of pride to represent your country. For me, I made many friendships at the Youth Worlds that have stayed with me for the rest of my life. The most important thing for the sailors to do is to have fun, but of course it’s easier to have fun when you’re doing well on the water!”

If the Youth Worlds is as much about friendship as it is world-class competition, then that sense of togetherness is typified by the Opening Ceremony which took place an hour after sunset in the warm glow of an Oman winter’s evening. Every team marched on to the stage to savour such a significant milestone in their careers.

Dr Khamis Al Jabri, CEO of Oman Sail, applauded the spirit of the sailors: “We welcome you all and hope you enjoy your stay. The Sultanate is proud to host this event, one of the most prestigious in the sailing calendar. The coming days promise great sailing in warm conditions as well as incredible hospitality. Wishing you all fair winds.”

David Graham, CEO of World Sailing, commented: “Oman deserves congratulations for becoming the first country in the Middle East to host this event. This is the pinnacle of youth sailing, and I would like to thank sailors and coaches for the extra effort to make it here under such difficult circumstances. To every sailor here, it is a great achievement to be representing your nation, so very well done for being here, and may every gust and windshift blow in your favour.”

11 Events at the Youth Worlds

Female Windsurfer Bic Techno 293+

Male Windsurfer Bic Techno 293+

Male Kiteboarding FormulaKite

Female Kiteboarding FormulaKite

Female Two Person Dinghy 420

Male/Mixed Two Person Dinghy 420

Female One Person Dinghy ILCA 6

Male One Person Dinghy ILCA 6

Male Skiff 29er

Female Skiff 29er

Mixed Two Person Multihull Nacra 15

To follow live tracking of the racing, go to: www.sapsailing.com

About the Youth Worlds

First held in Sweden in 1971, the Youth Sailing World Championships are World Sailing’s flagship event for youth sailors.

Past notable winners include America’s Cup skippers Chris Dickson (NZL), Russell Coutts (NZL) and Dean Barker (NZL); Olympic medallists Nathan Outteridge (AUS), Iain Jensen (AUS), Robert Scheidt (BRA), Amelie Lux (GER), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Iain Percy (GBR), Alessandra Sensini (ITA), Elise Rechichi (AUS) and Tessa Parkinson (AUS); and The Ocean Race sailors Stuart Bannatyne (NZL) and Richard Clarke (CAN). The most successful Youth World Champions are Sally Cuthbert (GBR) and Zofia Klepacka (POL), having won four successive titles in the Laser II and Mistral respectively.

Following the success of their athletes at the 2019 edition, Spain is the current holder of the Nations Trophy, awarded annually to the top-performing nation at the Youth Worlds.