Scarlett Hadley continuing to blaze a trail for St Vincent and the Grenadines

This is Hadley’s third experience of the event as she continues to benefit from support from the Youth Sailing Emerging Nations Programme (ENP), which aims to help close the performance gap between emerging and developed sailing nations and promote world wide competition.

The Youth World Championship Programme, part of the ENP, sees selected sailors invited to a four-day training camp prior to the Championships and granted access to world-class coaching during the event.

The initiative has been a game-changer for Hadley, who is competing in the ILCA 6 class in Vilamoura.

“It has helped me a lot because St Vincent is a small island and without them, I don’t think we would have had the opportunity or the fees to get here,” she said.

“It is so cool to have the chance to represent St Vincent, it is so small and sailing isn’t that big but it is slowly growing.”

It’s growth is in no small part due to Hadley’s influence. In addition to appearing at the Youth Sailing World Championships, she also became the first sailor from her country to compete at the Pan-American Games in Chile two years ago.

“In St Vincent, we didn’t really have a competitive side to sailing when I first started,” she said.

“I was thrown into it but I ended up getting to experience a whole bunch of international events, which is insane to think about, but I am really grateful for that.

“I am really happy to put that out there and encourage other youth sailors on my island. I can see people behind me now coming up who look at what I have done and are now trying to get to these same events.

“As I come out of the youth category now, I hope those guys get to experience what I have.”

It marks the end of an era for Hadley in the youth arena but she hopes her teenage experiences around the world will stand her in good stead as she takes the next step in her sailing journey.

“This one has been the best as I think I have improved a lot,” she said.

“The first one was one of my first ever times competing at an international event, I didn’t perform my best.

“Last year in Lake Garda was a bit better, I learned a bit more, and since then I have been to more regattas and had a lot more training.

“It is really sad (being my last one) as the Youth Worlds is such an amazing experience in terms of the social side of it as well.

“I have seen people here who come back every time, as I have been here now for three years, and you make so many friends – especially in the ENP, we all meet up again with so many people from all over the world.

“It is quite sad to leave that but hopefully I will see them again at senior events.”

The population of Hadley’s homeland stands at just over 100,000 and taking on fellow sailors from around the world does not come without its nervous moments.

But the ILCA 6 competitor is fiercely proud of where she comes from and reminders of her homeland are never far away.

“When I get in my head, I try to just go away from it all and listen to some music from back home,” she said.

“I try to just feel like I’m sailing at home and look at it like ‘it’s just fun, it’s not that serious’. Sometimes I get too stressed out about things.

“Ultimately, I want to keep encouraging younger sailors at home and hopefully continue to represent my country.”