US SAILING's 2010 Youth World Team

Eleven youth sailors have qualified for US SAILING’s 2010 Youth World Team, and will receive invitations to represent the United States at the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 8-17, 2010. Nine of these athletes were selected based on first-place finishes in their respective classes at the 2010 US SAILING International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Youth World Qualifier in Clearwater, Fla. The multihull team was chosen by resume and did not compete at the Youth World Qualifier.

The members of US SAILING’s 2010 Youth World Team are:

• Laser Radial (boy’s one person dinghy): Mateo Vargas (Treasure Island, Fla.)
• Laser Radial (girl’s one person dinghy): Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
• International 420s (boy’s two person dinghy): Ian Liberty (Colt’s Neck, N.J.) and Colin Murphy (New York, NY)
• International 420s (girl’s two person dinghy): Marlena Fauer (New York, N.Y.) and Christina Lewis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
• 29er (open high performance dinghy): Antoine Screve (Kentfield, Calif.) and James Moody (Tiburon, Calif.)
• RS:X with 8.5m2 sail (boy’s windsurfer) : Cullen Ahearn (Clearwater, Fla. )
• Sirena SL16 (open multihull): Taylor Palmer (Miami Shores, Fla.) and Mac Agnese (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)

No RS:X girls registered to compete in the qualifier, so the U.S. will not send an athlete in that class to Turkey.

“We have a very strong team,” said High Performance Director Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). “This event was a true test of skill in heavy and medium air, and these sailors demonstrated they were the strongest in their fleets. We’re excited about the prospect of them winning the Volvo Youth Sailing trophy this summer.”

For more information about the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, please visit the event web site: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com

Vargas, Reineke, Liberty, Fauer, Lewis, Screve, Moody and Agnese are also members of the newly-launched 2010 US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), which includes young sailors identified as Olympic hopefuls in the Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, I420, 470, 29er and 49er classes. For more information about the USSDT, please visit the team page:http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Teams/2010USSDT.htm