Sailing is in for thrills and spills at the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games with sailors to compete across five of the fastest classes around.
The Men’s and Women’s Windsurfer, Techno 293+, remains on the YOG programme with the introduction of Men’s and Women’s Kiteboarding, IKA Twin Tip Racing, and the Nacra 15 Mixed Multihull.[more]
All five YOG events are expected to see new formats of racing introduced and these are to be finalised by World Sailing and the International Olympic Committee by July 2016.
Buenos Aires, the Argentinean capital, will host the third edition of YOG from 1-12 October 2018 and exactly 100 sailors aged 15-18 will sail across the five events on Rio de la Plata.
To get to YOG is an achievement in itself as sailors have to earn the right and qualify their country at key international regattas. The qualification system for Buenos Aires 2018 will be confirmed by July 2016 but the window for securing a spot will be between April 2017 and July 2018.
About the Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games brings 28 sports together in a unique multi-sport event for young athletes who are given a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate in high-level sporting competitions while also engaging in a Culture and Education Programme (CEP) focused on the Olympic spirit and Olympic values, skill development, well-being and healthy lifestyle, social responsibility and expression through digital media.
At the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, Singapore 2010, Ian Barrows (ISV) and Lara Vadlau (AUT) won gold on the Boys and Girls One Person Dinghy, Byte CII, whilst Mayan Rafic (ISR) and Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam (THA) took the honours in the Boys and Girls Windsurfer, Techno 293.
Nanjing, China hosted the second edition of the Youth Olympic Games in 2014. Singaporean sailors Bernie Chin and Samantha Yom made it double gold for their nation in the Byte CII. Argentina’s Francisco Saubidet Birkner and China’s Linli Wu took the honours in the Techno 293.
Buenos Aires will welcome sailors across five events in 2018. The Men’s and Women’s Techno293+ fleets will feature 24 athletes each, the Kiteboarding events will welcome 12 in each fleet and the Nacra 15 will see 14 boats and 28 athletes on the start line.
