Dutch Youth Regatta starts with 760 youth teams in 8 different classes

From Thursday May 30th till Sunday May 2nd the Dutch Youth Regatta takes place in Workum, the Netherlands. A total of 760 youth teams divided in 8 classes will be present at the regatta. There is also Eurocup Series for the 29er U25, the current leaders will race in Workum as well.

The classes will be divided into four different course areas, and a total of 14 are scheduled. For the 29er and Nacra 15 there are 18 races scheduled. Lots of sailors are already training for the Dutch Youth Regatta in Workum. In all classes, there are some promising sailors coming to the Netherlands for racing.

Eurocup Series for 29er
In the 29er we see Aristide Girou and Noah Chauvin who came in second last year. Without the winning team of 2018, they’ll go and fight for the gold medal this year. The Dutch Youth Regatta is part of the Eurocup Series, and the current leaders of this series, Danish Josefine Nøjgaard and Ellen Nielsen are present in Workum.

Defending title in Cadet class
In the Cadet the winning team of 2018 is back, the Belgium Thibaud Dirix and Thomas Winand will go and defend their championship from last year. They’ve been racing some strong races at the 2018 edition, setting the tone at the beginning of the regatta with a lot of first finishers.

New names in Laser 4.7
In the Laser 4.7 we see a lot of new names, a big fleet is coming from the Netherlands. Knowing these waters better compared to the other competitors, they might have some home advantage. 

Strong girl in the Laser Radial
The Dutch Emma Savelon will be back this year, last year she won the regatta in the Laser Radial and left all the boys behind her. With a fleet of 74 sailors in this class, it’s going to be a strong competition again.

Interesting battles in Nacra 15
In the Nacra 15 we will have an interesting battle again between Swiss team Arnarnaud Grange & Marie van der Klink and Dutchies Laila van der Meer & Bjarne Bouwer. Last year the Swiss team ended up in 3th place, only two points in front of the Dutchies. They lost their podium spot in the last races of the regatta. Since then, they’ve trained a lot, been flying with the Nacra 15 and switched to Nacra 17 as well! Going to be an interesting couple of days in the Nacra 15.

Former Benjamin sailors in Optimist
The Optimist welcomes a lot of former Optimist Benjamin sailors, like Josip Tafra (CRO), he finished in second place in the Benjamin class last year. Now he’s sailing in the regular Optimist class. Maj Petric from Slovenia has also outgrown the Benjamin class and will compete against the bigger guys this weekend. 

Coming back for the title in RS-Feva 
In the RS-Feva we have Laura van den Acker & Femke van den Berg (NED) competing for the gold medal. Last year the battle for the first place was decided in the last race of the Dutch Youth Regatta. The girls ended up with equal points with the Dutch Luuk & Sjors de Wijn, but the boys had won the last race from the girls, so they climbed up to the top of the result list. 

Current Splash Blue World Champion
In the Splash Blue the eyes will be on Mark Immenga (NED), he is the current World Champion in the Splash Blue. At last years regatta, he lost his first place in the last race of the event to Bauke Rijpma. Something Immenga won’t let happen again!

How to follow
The Dutch Youth Regatta can be followed via several online channels: 

• The website will give you all the news and results, provided by Sailing Today. 
• Via the Twitter live race updates will be published.
• Facebook shares photos, videos and important updates.
• Instagram will give you a daily report via the stories.