Sanya welcomes the world

Sanya, China officially welcomed the world’s best youth sailors at the 2017 Youth Sailing World Championships with a glittering opening ceremony.

Exactly 374 sailors from 60 nations paraded along Sanya Serenity Marina before entering the venue for the ceremony where dignitaries, sponsors, suppliers, friends and family, volunteers, officials and local Chinese spectators were waiting to greet them.   
 
Each nation participated in the mixing of the waters ceremony. Every team brought water from their home waters and these were mixed together, symbolising each nation coming together at the Youth Worlds, embodying sportsmanship, team spirit and unity.
 
Sailors paraded proudly across the stage, pouring their water into the mixing jar, posing for pictures.  
 
The largest round of applause was reserved for the Chinese team who completed the parade.
 
Speeches were delivered from Sanya and World Sailing representatives before the Championships was officially declared open.
 
An evening of Chinese themed entertainment followed with national dancers and singers taking to the stage to entertain the competitors.
 
In a slight twist to Youth Worlds Opening Ceremony ‘protocol’ sailors were welcomed up onto the stage to deliver some karaoke!
 
Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA was successfully sung by the American team with Spanish, Turkish and Italian (to name but a few) national songs played out across the hundreds of speakers around the venue.
 
Addressing the athletes at the opening of the Championships, World Sailing Vice-President, Quanhai Li expressed, “World Sailing is delighted to see that 374 of the world’s best youth sailors from 60 nations from all continents and regions are here today to compete.
 
“We would like to see your high best performance in over the next five days. We are confident that all the sailors that you see here are the our future Sailing stars and some of you will go to the Olympic Games or move into the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup.
 
“2017 is the first time a Youth Worlds event will be held in China. Sanya is a beautiful coastal city and over the week the world we will see the beautiful blue, clean water and the excellent wind we are blessed with.
 
“I would like to thank our global and national sponsors and a dedicated group of volunteers who are vital to its success. A special mention must go to our valued partners who are supplying all of the boats the sailors will use this week. Thank you to Laser Performance, Maclaren, Ovington, Neil Pryde, Nautivela and Nacra Sailing.”
 
After months of training, thousands of air miles to get to China and two days of intense boat work and training it will all come down to the next five days for the athletes.
 
Racing commences at 11:00 local time and the quest for glory, achieving personal goals and living the dream will begin!

Find out how to follow and engage with the event: 
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the event on World Sailing’s social networks and get involved in the conversation using #youthworlds #yswcsanya
 
Facebook
World Sailing’s Youth Worlds Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/YouthWorlds/ – will bring you daily imagery, video and live sailor interviews.
 
Instagram
Like and comment on the best World Sailing images on the @worldsailingofficial Instagram account and be sure to watch out for exclusive behind the scenes features on Instagram Stories.
 
Twitter
The best place for live updates from the Youth Worlds, the @youthworlds twitter account will deliver coverage from across the racing areas throughout the duration of the championships.
 
WATCH
Daily highlights and feature videos will be available on World Sailing’s YouTube Channel – www.youtube.com/worldsailingtv.
 
ENTRIES
Check out who’s entered the 2017 Youth Worlds here – http://www.worldsailingywc.org/entries/index.php
 
RESULTS
Results will be available from Monday 11 December here – http://www.worldsailingywc.org/results/2017_sanya_china.php
 
PRESS RELEASES
World Sailing will be releasing international press releases after racing throughout the duration of 2017 Youth Worlds. All the latest news and reports will be available to read here – http://www.sailing.org/news/youth-worlds.php.
 
ABOUT THE YOUTH WORLDS
The Youth Sailing World Championship was first held in Angelholm, Sweden in 1971 where 16 nations competed for the inaugural titles in the two-person dinghies, 420 and Flipper.
 
As the regatta evolved further classes were added to bring the best young sailing talent across the world together in one place and in 1984 the Mistral windsurfer was added to the list of events with Knut Budig (GER) taking the first gold medal in San Diego, California.
 
Open to sailors aged 19 and under the 47th version of the Youth Worlds heads to the Sanya, China from 9-16 December as the stars of the future are born once again.
 
Past notable winners include American’s Cup skippers, Chris Dickson (NZL), Russell Coutts (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL); Olympic medallists, Ben Ainslie (GBR), Robert Scheidt (BRA), Alessandra Sensini (ITA), Iain Percy (GBR) and Elise Rechichi (AUS); Volvo Ocean Race sailors like Stuart Bannatyne (NZL) and Richard Clarke (CAN). The most successful Youth World Champions are Great Britain’s Sally Cuthbert and Poland’s Zofia Klepacka having won four successive titles in the Laser II and Mistral respectively.
 
Italy is the current holder of the Nations Trophy, awarded annually to the top performing nation at the Youth Worlds. The Nations Trophy was first introduced in 1991 and in 1999 became the Volvo Trophy until 2010. France is the most successful nation through the history of the Championship, winning the Nations Trophy on a record eleven occasions and holding a record 76 medals: 28 gold, 30 silver and 18 bronze.