Isabella @ Youth Worlds Denmark

Day 1

Finally racing started at the 2008 ISAF Youth Worlds. The sailors were greeted by a weather forecast which stated rain and 15 increasing to 28 knots from the south, slowly going to the south west. After a great breakfast and a bus ride to the club, the sailors hit the water with their GPSs which are worth $400 each and are costing $500 a day per boat for transmission of information. All the data is sent to www.sportcasting.org where every move is tracked. What a great idea to follow the sailors and for talking about the races after. The coaches were put on 2 boats on the single handed course and I was able to get to the only boat which moved and had the ability to talk with the sailors. Isabella Bertold was in the top of the Laser Radial fleet all day. The waves downwind were challenging especially on the outer loop in that the angles and the direction were not easy to match with the wind direction. Isabella was in second and first around the whole course on the first race and ended up 3rd after a really close finish. A good solid start to the regatta. In the second start sailors were OCSed at the race committee boat end, but Isabella started 5th boat from the pin as the wind was backing. She led from start to finish to win the race. She is sitting in first and will sail with the yellow dot tomorrow. Isabella went straight to spin her legs out on the bike to prepare for the rest of the week racing. Today was to be the windiest day of the week and with gusts up to 38 knots, we are pretty sure that is the case. Day 2 at the 2008 ISAF Youth Worlds

Similar conditions to the first day. Southerly winds, huge waves and 10-15 knots of winds, increasing to 22 in the gusts and rain showers. The girls had first start and outer-loops today. Isabella had 2 tough starts where she started to windward of a sailor who pinched her out. Despite some tough first 200 meters , she sailed some excellent windward legs and finished in 6th and 7th today and is sitting in 2nd overall. Our single handed sailors are in top shape, ready for another 4 days of racing and all the training they have done over the past year is showing.

For complete results, please go to www.sailing.org