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As the world’s eyes turn to Kingston, Ontario, for the 2007 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships, Canada’s eyes turn to the youth who will represent us at this prestigious event. This team, drawn from across Canada, represents the cream of the country’s crop in sailing youth. They are pumped and ready to go, and, as the team agreed, they “are not here to NOT win”.

Nine sailors form the team, with the support of three coaches. Each of these athletes has clearly demonstrated their skill and ongoing commitment to the sport and this, along with all of the hard work, has earned them this opportunity.

Single handed representatives Robert Davis (Kingston, ON) is sailing the Laser, Isabella Bertold (Vancouver BC) the Laser Radial and David Hayes (Toronto, ON) is on the RS:X Windsurfer.

Double handed representatives Nicholas Kroeger (Gatineau, PQ) and Peter Soosalu (Ottawa, ON) sail in Male 29er event, Alanna Foscarini and Alison Ludzki (both from Toronto, ON) compete in the Female 29er event and Mark Pataky (West Vancouver, BC) along with Jon Scott (Vancouver, BC) take on the Hobie 16 fleet.

Meet the Team

	Robert Davis, a member of Kingston Yacht Club, started sailing at the age of five in an Optimist in Norway, where he was born. He has continued with his love of sailing and competing, and since coming to Canada with his family, has progressed up through the fleets and moved into the full rig Laser within the past year. Currently ranked at position 164 by the ISAF, Robert’s accomplishments include:
Winning the 2006 CYA Youth National Championship held in Wabamun, AB, in the Laser Radial event. Winning the 2006 CORK Fall Regatta in Kingston, ON, sailing in the full rig Laser event. Placing 10th at the 2006 National Qualifier Regatta held in Vancouver, BC, in the Laser event. Taking 2nd at the 2007 Lilac Festival Regatta held in Hamilton in the Laser class. As well as significant results at international events in Canada and the US. This event is another milestone in Robert’s sailing career, and is definitely one to watch on the water.

	Isabella Bertold sails and trains for the Laser Radial event out of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Isabella started out in the Optimist class, and has been sailing the Radial since 2005. In addition to being the youngest member of the Senior Canadian Sailing Team she is ranked 53 in the ISAF rankings for the Radial class. Her recent accomplishments in the Radial include:
3rd in the 2007 Laser North American Championships held in Hyannis 1st in the 2007 Laser Midwinters (West) held in Los Angeles 10th in the 2007 Laser Midwinters (East) held in Fort Lauderdale 16th in the 2006 Laser Europa Cup held in Hoorn, The Netherlands. Isabella hopes to gain more experience being at the Youth Worlds level for her longer term goals, which include returning in 2008 and then looking to the 2008 and beyond Olympic Games. This experience is important as she has qualified to compete at the 2008 Laser Radial World Championships / Olympic Trials.

	Our third single handed sailor is David Hayes on the RS:X Windsurfer. Sailing out of the Toronto Windsurfing Club, David brings to the team an experienced perspective, as he is returning to the event after placing 11th at the 2006 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships held in Weymouth, England. Starting out on the Star-board Go at the age of 13 and moving up with the Mistral and now the RS:X, David has certainly shown his talents having achieved an ISAF ranking of 69 in the RS:X class. In addition to his position at last year’s event, David has also captured a 14th at the 2007 RS:X North American Championships held in Miami, and a 23rd at the 2007 Rolex Miami OCR. David is also a member of the Senior Canadian Sailing Team on the RS:X.

The Double Handed events will also be represented by three teams that may be new faces but bring an already impressive record to the team.
	Nicholas Kroeger and crew Peter Soosalu will be sailing in the Male 29er event. Home base for these two gentlemen is Britannia Yacht Club in Ottawa, ON, where they are members of the club’s High Performance Team. Together, they have tallied a strong record, including:
1st at the 2006 CYA Youth National Sailing Championships held in Wabamun, AB. 15th at the 2006 29er North American Championships held in Kingston, ON. 11th at the 2007 29er Midwinter Championships held in Sarasota, Florida.

	The Female 29er event will be represented by cousins Alanna Foscarini and crew Alison Ludzki, who sail out of the National Yacht Club in Toronto. Relatively new as a team (this is their second season together), they have put together a sailing style that is quite successful for them. So far their accomplishments include:
4th at the 2006 CYA Youth National Championships held in Wabamun, AB 19th at the 2006 29er North American Championships held in Kingston, ON 1st at the 2006 Sarnia Sailfest

	They continue to have fun as a team and are looking forward to sailing against teams that have the opportunity to sail all year ‘round. The Multihull event will be sailed in the Hobie 16, and Canada’s Hobie 16 will be sailed by Mark Pataky and crew Jon Scott – both from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Mark and Jon came together this year on the Hobie and trained for the Youth Worlds qualifier event in May 2007.
Prior to the Hobie, Mark gained experience sailing in the Optimist class where he was the 2001 and 2002 Canadian Champion, as well as being part of the Canadian Opti World Team in 2001 through 2004. Since then Mark has competed in the 420 and 29er classes. Mark has also been a member of the Canadian National Youth Team in 2003, 2004 and now 2007. In the 29er he has been: 1st in the Western Canada Games Qualifier for 2007 BC Provincial Champion in 2004 and 2006 The CYA Western 16 and Under Champion in 2005.

In the 420 class he has been the 2006 CYA national Champion for the 23 and Under category.

Jon gained great experience in the Laser Radial class, winning both the BC Youth Racing Circuit and the BC Summer Games in 2006. In 2007, strong finishes in the Midwinter’s West and March Madness events have stood him well. He has also done well in the 29er, winning the Spring Dinghy Championships and taking first in the Western Canada Summer Games Qualifier with Mark.

Their combined experience will undoubtedly serve them well as they face their first international competition in the Hobie 16.

This talented youth team has coaching support provided by three strong coaches.

Ken Dool, the Canadian Sailing Team Head Coach and the CYA Director of High Performance will head up the coaching staff. Having sailed the Laser and Finn in his youth, Ken is a strong guiding hand to this young team as they prepare for this prestigious event. Ken brings to the team his experience from past World Championships, Olympic Games and recently, the Volvo Ocean Race, where he was coach of the boat “Movistar”.

Alain Bolduc, hailing from Québec, is a member of the Senior Canadian Sailing Team in the RS:X class where his ISAF ranking is 47. Alain has been sailing competitively for nearly 20 years and as a teacher will be able to provide the guidance and support that will be both needed and appreciated by the team.

Matthieu Dubreucq completes the coaching staff. A member of the Québec Provincial Sailing Team in the RS:X and 49er, Matt will be working specifically with the Double Handed competitors. Sailing in these waters has its advantages, as Matt captured 2nd at the 2006 49er Canadian championships in Kingston.

This year’s event will be a good one. The team has been training in Kingston, where their training regiment has been focussed on being out on the water at the scheduled competition times to better understand and know the conditions at that time of day. This, along with physical conditioning and one-on-one coaching sessions, will certainly help the athletes focus on the task as hand.

Canada should be proud of these nine athletes as they sail out to represent Canada, the host country for the 2007 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships, competing from Saturday July 14th through Friday July 20th. Show your support. Send them an email of support throughout the event. You can get more information on how to contact the competitors as well as accessing their full ISAF Sailor Biography at http://www.sailing.ca/youth/teammembers/worldteam_members07.asp.

Good luck to these young sailors! We’ll see you at the awards ceremony!

Article from www.sailing.ca