Sailors eye up Youth Olympic Games

Two Cook Islands rising sailing stars have their sails up and ready to fly the national flag at the Youth Olympics next year in Nanjing, China.

Rarotonga Sailing Club’s Vanic Teina and Aitutaki Sailing Club’s Joshua Ioane were selected to represent the Cook Islands at the Youth Olympics after two days of trials on the stunning Aitutaki lagoon.

During the two day trials the keen team of lasers gunning for the two spots (one girl and one boy) were taken through their paces with drills and a regatta – all under the watchful eye of Sailing Cook Islands selector Andre Raoult.

Teina and Ioane impressed on the water with their sailing skills and in the end, the pair just couldn’t be separated and were selected to represent the country at the Youth Olympics.

However, before the duo take China on for the games, they are hard at work training under the guidance of national coach and national sailing medallist Taua Elisa to sharpen up their skills ahead of regattas in Australia at the end of the month.

The home based sailors will be joined in Australia by national sailing medallist Teau McKenzie who has just completed her final year at high school in New Zealand.

Next year will also be McKenzie’s last year sailing as a junior.

The team will leave the island shortly to sail in the Laser 4.7 competition at the Australian Laser Nationals closely followed by the OAMPSY Youth Nationals in Port Phillips, Melbourne.

In 2010, Aquila Tatiara and McKenzie took part in the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

The team sees the Australian regattas of big fleet racing as a timely induction for the young side in preparation for the qualification event in the Byte C11 craft in Brisbane in April next year.

Meanwhile the elite junior sailing squad has been testing their skills in the open ocean in their optimists crafts as they prepare for the Auckland Regatta in early January.

The team of Martin Marsters, Teakuao Franheim, Toutikia Ioane, Helene Johnson, Ngarangi Mapu, Otis Burrell, Makua Nikoia and Tyler Davis are the youngsters seen out in their crafts outside the Avatiu and Avarua reef honing their skills under the watchful eye of national coach and sailing medallist Junior Charlie.

The teams are still running fundraising activities to raise the necessary funds to cover the cost of travelling and entering high level regattas to be better prepared for important qualification events that will take Cook Islands Sailing and sailors to the world.