Emerging Nations sailors put their trust in the process

The aim of the Youth Worlds Emerging Nations Program is to increase the number of sailors participating at the Youth Worlds, with the goal of narrowing the performance gap and promote worldwide competition.

For six days leading up to the Youth Worlds, 23 sailors from 17 countries around the world took part in an intensive training camp run by World Sailing’s Training and Development Executive Cat Duncan and Training Delivery Manager Rob Holden.

Being the most globally accessible and affordable equipment in the youth competition, the ILCA 6 singlehanded dinghy is the boat of choice for the ENP sailors. Four-time Olympian from Mexico, Tania Elías Calles, is the ENP coach who has been hired to share not just her technical knowledge of racing the ILCA 6 to a high level, but also to impart the philosophy and principles that drive any successful sailing campaign.

Rob Holden says Calles’ input into the program is invaluable to the kids. “She is out on the water, watching their races, observing their decisions, and helping them get to grips with the current here in Scheveningen,” says Holden, an experienced sailing coach from South Africa. “The current is a massive factor and most of these kids have never had to deal with such big tides before. It’s easy to get pushed over the start line or overstand a layline until you start to understand the effect of the current.”

According to Cat Duncan, Calles’ role in the program goes beyond the pure sailing know-how. “The technical side of how to sail and race better is incredibly useful to the kids, but Tania is a role model as well as their coach. She comes from a smaller sailing nation herself, so she can relate to their situation. Coming into a big event like the Youth Worlds can be a huge learning curve, but Tania has taught the kids a few things that have really stuck with them. She is always telling them to ‘Think Two Steps Ahead’, which they’re now taking into everyday life. When they were planning on getting to the Opening Ceremony on Saturday, they were all like ’Think Two Steps Ahead’. So they’ve got a group mantra which is really cool. You can see them even using it in their hashtags on Instagram, and they really bounce off each other, helping build the team spirit within the group.”

Another Tania Mantra that has taken hold in the ENP group is ‘Trust in the Process’, says Duncan. “They are learning to trust that what Tania is telling them to do is going to benefit them in the long term. Which means they’re really listening and taking on board her feedback. It’s great to see.”

The ENP has been running since 2015 and it gathers momentum every year. Holden is rightly proud of what he, Duncan and Calles manage to achieve with these up and coming sailors from every corner of the globe. For Holden, the success of the program is not measured by where his sailors cross the finish line. “I don’t measure results, I measure improvement and attitude. It’s a wonderful feeling when the kids say to me that they just can’t wait to come back again.”

With that said, Holden must feel a little pride when, for example, after day one of the regatta in The Hague, Cristina Castellanos from Guatemala was lying in sixth overall in the 56-boat ILCA 6 Female fleet, with India’s Ritika Dangi just a few points behind in eighth place. The great inspiration of recent times is the ILCA 6 gold medal won by Peru’s Florencia Chiarella at the 2021 Youth Worlds in Oman. Two days ago the hard-working Peruvian sent a word of encouragement to the class of 2022. “This message is to all those emerging nations sailors that consider sailing an essential part of their life as I do. Always remember to keep on trying, especially if you fall, again and again; keep focused and never lose hope. If you work hard and believe in your dreams, you never know where the fairy tale can take you. Good luck to all!”

ENP Sailors at the Youth Worlds 2022

written by Andy Rice, event reporter for World Sailing