December 13, 2017
3 minutes reading time
Sanya just the second international appearance for South Africa's Stock
Sanya 2017 is the first career appearance for Sonja Stock (Cape Town, South Africa) at the Youth Sailing World Championships.
Sanya 2017 is the first career appearance for Sonja Stock (Cape Town, South Africa) at the Youth Sailing World Championships.
Stock is relatively new to this level of the sport, and Sanya 2017 is just her second international appearance in the Laser, following the 2017 Laser Radial Youth Worlds in Medemblik, The Netherlands.
“Youth Worlds brings for me huge motivation to train for the future,” said Stock. “I have learned a ridiculous amount in just two days here. Getting to sail against the best of the international community is really special.”
Stock has been sailing on any type of boat she could get her hands on from as early as she can remember. “I grew up sailing on a lake near Cape Town, and my dad took me sailing for the first time around age three,” said Stock, who after four races in Sanya sits in 19th place in the 40-boat fleet.
While Stock has been sailing since age six in trainer classes such as the Optimist, along with time in local one-designs, her racing career really took off after a chance meeting with London 2012 South African Olympic sailor and current coach Roger Hudson (Cape Town, South Africa).
“Roger came to coach in Cape Town, and I went up to him even though it was only men talking to him at the time,” said Stock. “He started supporting me right away, and I got a lot better this year from working with him and his RaceAhead foundation.”
In terms of her future plans, Stock says that getting to Sanya and competing at this event has been her sole focus, and left little time to think about her next steps. “I think I want to go to the Olympics someday, that would be a really good plan and a good step.”
Stock said that sailing in South Africa, and her hometown of Cape Town, brings unique challenges and opportunities. “You can train in all types of conditions there,” said Stock. “There is not much chop, which made Medemblik hard. But with the wind, a lot of the time you can find certain areas where it is blowing 35 knots, and in nearby places it might be blowing 8-10 at the same time. Cape Town can be an amazing place to sail if you know where to go, and how to use it.”
While sailing is still growing in South Africa, there is already a strong community of youth athletes who travel to sail with and against each other from Cape Town and Johannesburg, the two centers of the sport in the country. “I love sailing in South Africa because it’s beautiful. You can also travel and see the country, and see your friends from other places.”
By Will Ricketson
“Youth Worlds brings for me huge motivation to train for the future,” said Stock. “I have learned a ridiculous amount in just two days here. Getting to sail against the best of the international community is really special.”
Stock has been sailing on any type of boat she could get her hands on from as early as she can remember. “I grew up sailing on a lake near Cape Town, and my dad took me sailing for the first time around age three,” said Stock, who after four races in Sanya sits in 19th place in the 40-boat fleet.
While Stock has been sailing since age six in trainer classes such as the Optimist, along with time in local one-designs, her racing career really took off after a chance meeting with London 2012 South African Olympic sailor and current coach Roger Hudson (Cape Town, South Africa).
“Roger came to coach in Cape Town, and I went up to him even though it was only men talking to him at the time,” said Stock. “He started supporting me right away, and I got a lot better this year from working with him and his RaceAhead foundation.”
In terms of her future plans, Stock says that getting to Sanya and competing at this event has been her sole focus, and left little time to think about her next steps. “I think I want to go to the Olympics someday, that would be a really good plan and a good step.”
Stock said that sailing in South Africa, and her hometown of Cape Town, brings unique challenges and opportunities. “You can train in all types of conditions there,” said Stock. “There is not much chop, which made Medemblik hard. But with the wind, a lot of the time you can find certain areas where it is blowing 35 knots, and in nearby places it might be blowing 8-10 at the same time. Cape Town can be an amazing place to sail if you know where to go, and how to use it.”
While sailing is still growing in South Africa, there is already a strong community of youth athletes who travel to sail with and against each other from Cape Town and Johannesburg, the two centers of the sport in the country. “I love sailing in South Africa because it’s beautiful. You can also travel and see the country, and see your friends from other places.”
By Will Ricketson
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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WATCH
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RESULTS
Results are available 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.