This year’s 41st. ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship held in Zadar, Croatia was an extremely challenging event for our top Bahamian junior sailor, Christopher Sands who in major Laser Radial championships in North American earlier in the year did extremely well.

At the ISAF Youth Worlds Sands raced in the Boy’s Laser Radial class in which he was 29th out of 50. Christopher and his coach Robert Dunkley were hoping for a better result, especially as Christopher last year took 28th place out of 53 and he had substantially improved his boat speed, boat handling and tactics over the last year.

As Dunkley says “When considering the level of competition in both of these years Christopher has done exceptionally well. To put things into perspective, this championship is the premier event for youth sailing in the world. It is modeled after the Olympic Games and is designed as the introductory event for this level of sailing. For youth sailing it is the ultimate.”

At this year’s event Christopher found it frustrating with the lack of wind. His comment to a news reporter while there was: "So far it has been great apart from the wind." He added: "The wind has been really shifty and it's been up and down as well." This was very much the case for the first few days. To do well at this level you need fitness, good boat speed and boat handling, sound tactics and a wee bit of luck, which when it comes down to it means “smarts”. In this twelve race series over six days, the smartest sailors, not necessarily the fastest, won out. Christopher’s best three finishes in the series were two 10’s and an 18.

The Bahamas were pleased and thankful to be once again one of the nations approved for the Athlete Participation Programme [APP] funding support from ISAF. This year the coach in charge of sailors in the programme was Hugh Styles from England; an Olympian and incredibly talented sailor who was a great inspiration to all of the sailors there. He briefed the sailors each morning on what to expect conditions-wise on the course before going out and then each evening provided a debrief through videos taken of the sailors while racing during the day. As Christopher said "Hugh is really good. He gives us a lot of local knowledge in the morning and we have debriefings in the afternoon as well. It's a big help."

It has only been through the efforts and support of the Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) and their sponsors, Nassau Yacht Club, Royal Nassau Sailing Club and The Bahamas Olympic Association that our top junior sailors have been able to participate in this prestigious and important event. Through the BSA the Bahamas has over the last six years sent sailors to the ISAF Youth Worlds on five occasions. It is hoped that this practice will continue and that some day in the near future we will see The Bahamas represented again in sailing at the Olympic Games.

About Christopher Sands: Chris (17) started sailing when he was 10. In the last seven years, he participated in the junior sailing programs of the Bahamas Sailing Association and of the Nassau Yacht Club. Chris is a multiple time National Champion in Optimist, Sunfish, Laser and Snipe. Last year, he finished in 28th position of the ISAF Youth World in Turkey. More recently, he placed 7th at both the 2011 Laser Midwinters East and the 2010 Orange Bowl Regatta. More at: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/biog.php?id=BAHCS1

About BSA: The Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) acts as the governing authority of the sport of sailing in The Bahamas under the supervision of the International Sailing Federation or ISAF. BSA's mission is to promote and encourage sailing in all its aspects in The Bahamas.