13th July 2007
Following the success of last year’s podcasts from the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship 2006, held in Weymouth, UK, daily podcasts have now commenced from the 2007 event, which starts tomorrow in Kingston, Canada.
Keep up to date with the daily action on the water by downloading these short video podcasts (http://youthworlds2007.org/podcast.shtml) featuring the thrills and spills from the seven fleets battling it out on Lake Ontario.
Racing starts in earnest on Saturday 14 July with three races scheduled for each class of boat: Lasers for the boys, Laser Radials for the girls, Hobie 16s (boys and girls sailing together) 29-ers (separate girls and boys boats), and the RS:X windsurfers (separate fleets for the boys and girls), will race over three courses in the stretch of water between Kingston and Wolfe Island.
Although Lake Ontario offers arguably the best lake sailing in the world, currents can be an issue here as the lake, the last in the chain of Great Lakes, forms the beginning of the St Lawrence River and the currents curl around Wolfe Island which is directly opposite Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, the event centre and legacy from the 1976 Olympic Games.
But, before the crews take to the water, tonight they will parade through the streets of Kingston, led by a mounted police woman and motorbike outriders, bearing their country’s national flag. The parade will culminate in an official opening ceremony where, in a symbolic gesture, a representative from each country will empty a vial of water brought with them from their home sailing waters into a large ceremonial vase. As the vase fills a small boat will begin to float and dry ice will bring the regatta to life.