Closing Ceremony Marks End Of 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship

The 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship officially came to an end with the Closing Ceremony held at the poolside of the Sheraton Hotel in Istanbul.

Over the past week close to 350 sailors representing 59 nations have battled for the eight Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship titles at the 40th edition of the Youth Worlds. The Closing Ceremony was the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the medal winners and for everyone involved to give their thanks to the city of Istanbul, the host nation Turkey, the Turkish Yachting Federation and the suppliers and sponsors of the event for putting on such a marvellous championship.

Nazli Imre, Vice President of ISAF and President of the Turkish Yachting Federation, paid tribute to everyone who's been involved in making the championship a success. Nazli opened by stating, "Please do not forget that participation is as honourable as winning a medal."

Nazli thanked the title sponsor Volvo Ocean Race, ISAF and its officers, all the equipment suppliers, and also the people and establishments who had played their part in realising the event. She thanked all the event sponsors, local organisers, race committee, jury and volunteers. She finished by saying, "Dear sailing family, I look forward to seeing you again in the future in Turkey and wish you all a safe journey home."

Sophie Luther, Communications Manager of the Volvo Ocean Race, addressed the ceremony on behalf of Volvo, sponsor of the ISAF Youth World Sailing Championship since 1999.

Sophie shared her memories of past events, "We have been title sponsor of this event for eleven years and we have seen the competitors rise to become stars of the future. We are sure we will see you either on our own event start line or helming an Americas Cup yacht or maybe for a few lucky few, standing on the podium at the Olympics."

She concluded by saying, "One of the best things about this event is the friendships you manage to make, I know these friendships last a long time."


Fiona Kidd, the Chairman of the ISAF Youth World Championship Sub-Committee, also paid tribute to the partners who had contributed to the 40th anniversary of the event. She stated, "It has been an extremely challenging week of sailing due to the unusually light and shifty wind conditions"

Fiona made special reference to Volvo, the title sponsor of the event for the last eleven years for their huge commitment to the sport of sailing and contribution in making the event the premier youth sailing championship in the world.

Fiona remarked, "We are extremely grateful for Volvo's continued support, not only in this event but in youth sailing and in creating champions in the sport. Volvo recognises it takes commitment, hard work and character to become a true champion."

"We can never thank Volvo enough for their support of this event since 1999. You are leaving this event in great shape and have provided a platform for us to build on in the future."

Fiona re-iterated the support provided by all the event equipment suppliers including Nautivela, Laser Performance, Neil Pryde and Sirena Voile. She thanked the Turkish Yachting Federation, all the organising committees, the volunteers and staff.

She closed by stating, "Our Turkish hosts have been friendly, gracious, warm and generous hosts to all of us here."


Turkish Yachting Federation President, Nazli Imri and representatives of the organising committee were all presented with ISAF awards to thank them for their contribution to the event. The team of ISAF Race Officials who have ensured fair play at the championship were also recognized, as was ISAF World Youth Sailing Trust coach Kristine Roug (DEN).

Following the speeches the medal ceremonies began with ISAF medals in gold, silver and bronze were awarded to first, second and third overall finishers in each event (see full details below). The Volvo Trophy was presented to France, the top-performing nation at the championship.

Fiona Kidd marked the end of the ceremony by declaring the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship closed with the ISAF Flag lowered and then presented to the hosts the next year's championship, Zadar, Croatia.


Medal Winners and Awards


Boy's Two Person Dinghy - 420
Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp (ESP) - gold medal and ISAF World Youth Sailing Championship Trophy
Joao Willas Boas and Tomas Camelo (POR) - silver medal
Jeremy Bachelin and Alexandre Massard (SUI) - bronze medal

Girl's Two Person Dinghy - 420
Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler (SUI) - gold medal
Maelenn Lemaitre and Aloise Retornaz (FRA) - silver medal
Lara Vadleu and Hannah Hanke (AUT) - bronze medal

Open High Performance Dinghy - 29er
Gael Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet (FRA) - gold medal
Alex Maloney and Sam Bullock (NZL) - silver medal
Antoine Screve and James Moody (USA) - bronze medal

Boy's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
Thomas Saunders (NZL) - gold medal and ISAF St. Lawrence Trophy
Keerati Bualong (THA) - silver medal
Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA) - bronze medal

Girl's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
Michelle Broekhuizen (NED) - gold medal and ISAF Royal Netherlands Centennial Trophy)
Heidi Tenkanen (FIN) - silver medal
Erika Reineke (USA) - bronze medal

Boy's Windsurfer - RSX
Mateo Sanz (ESP) - gold medal and ISAF Paul Phelan Trophy
Wonwoo Cho (KOR) - silver medal
Pawel Tarnovwski (POL) - bronze medal

Girl's Windsurfer - RSX
Kamila Smektala (POL) - gold medal and ISAF St. Moritz Board Sailing Championship Trophy
Izzy Hamilton (GBR) - silver medal
Ofir Halevy (ISR) - bronze medal

Open Multihull - Sirena SL16
Chase Lurati and Paul Darmanin (AUS) - gold medal and ISAF Paul Henderson Trophy
Daniel Bjornholt and Nicolaj Bjornholt (DEN) - silver medal
Taylor Palmer and Maximiliano Agnese (USA) - bronze medal

Volvo Trophy
French Team; Mattis Naud, Amelie Riou, Clement Ikhlef, Clement Pequin, Maelenn Lemaitre, Aloise Retornaz, Antoine Dijou, Guillume Le Croq, Louis Giard, Helene Noesmoen, Gale Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet.

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