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By ISAF

The world's top young sailors are entering their final preparations as just one week remains until the start of the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Buzios, Brazil.

The 38th edition of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship will showcase the future stars of the sailing world at Buzios, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil from 9-18 July. Over 280 sailors from 59 nations are set to arrive in Brazil next week, looking to make their mark at the first-ever edition of the Youth Worlds to be held in South America.

Past winners of Youth Worlds titles have gone on to become some of the biggest names in sailing such as three-time America's Cup winning skipper Russell Coutts (NZL), triple-Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie (GBR) or recent Volvo Ocean Race winner Stuart Bannatyne (NZL) and this year the potential of the competitors lining up looks just as promising. Amongst the entries for this year's championship is Brazilian Girls' 420 helm Martine Grael, daughter of five-time Olympic medallist and winning skipper of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race Torben Grael (BRA); and South African multihull competitor Matthew Whitehead, silver medallist at last year's Youth Worlds and the son of Colin Whitehead, President of the International Hobie Class Association.

Bruno Marques, chairman of the Organizing Committee for the championship, said, "Thanks to the help of the Rio De Janeiro State Government, we have carried out a major renovation project at the venue and with preparations now complete, we're looking forward to welcoming competitors, coaches and media to Buzios for the first ever Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship to be held in South America. We're expecting excellent sailing conditions and are looking forward to the start of racing next Saturday. Everything is in place to make this one of the most successful championships ever. "

Racing is held across seven events below, with 12 races scheduled for each event. Along with the individual events, the prestigious Volvo Trophy, currently held by Great Britain, will be awarded to the top performing nation at the championship.

Event - Equipment - Entries

Boy's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial - 54 entries
Girl's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial - 40 entries
Boy's Two Person Dinghy - 420 - 34 entries (68 sailors)
Girl's Two Person Dinghy - 420 - 25 entries (50 sailors)
Boy's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin - 23 entries
Girl's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin - 14 entries
Open Multihull - Hobie 16 with Spinnaker - 18 entries (36 sailors)

Thursday 9 July is the official arrival day for the championship, followed by the practice race and Opening Ceremony on Friday 10 July. The first official race day is Saturday 11 July, with two races scheduled across all seven events. Racing continues on Sunday and Monday, followed by the lay day on Tuesday and the final three days of racing on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 15-17 July.

Schedule

Thursday 9 July - Arrival Day
Friday 10 July - Practice Race and Opening Ceremony
Saturday 11 July - First Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Sunday 12 July - Second Official Race Day (3 races scheduled)
Monday 13 July -Third Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Tuesday 14 July - Lay Day
Wednesday 15 July - Fourth Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Thursday 16 July - Fifth Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Friday 17 July - Sixth Official Race Day (1 race scheduled) and Closing Ceremony
Saturday 18 July - Departure Day

How Well Do You Know The Youth Worlds?

Staying up to the date with all the latest news, videos, photos and gossip from the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship has never been easier or more fun! Ahead of the start of this year's championship, the Youth Worlds website has been given a brand new look and re-launched at www.sailing.org/youthworlds. We've also launched a Youth Worlds YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/VolvoYouthWorlds, a Youth Worlds Twitter page at www.twitter.com/youthworlds and a Facebook site at www.facebook.com/pages/Volvo-Youth-Worlds/93806273347.

To encourage you to take a look around the new site our Competition gives you a chance to win some ISAF goodies by taking our Youth Worlds quiz. So if you think you know your Volvo Trophies from your Past Venues go to www.sailing.org/youthworlds and click on the Competition Time link on the homepage or go to Competition under the 'Fun Stuff!' menu heading. Entries are open until midnight on Monday 8 July.

The 39th edition of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship is part of a sailing-packed year in the Rio de Janeiro state, which also played host to the Volvo Ocean Race, with an In-Port race won by the Telefonica Blue team and the start of leg six from Rio to Boston. The Laser 4.7 Youth World Championship will also be held in Buzios from 24-31 July, whilst the city of Niteroi will host the Optimist World Championship from 4-15 August.

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