Volvo Ocean Race is pleased to announce the continuation of its sponsorship of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. Volvo has sponsored the championship since the 1998 regatta in Cape Town, South Africa and is pleased to announce that it will be continuing its sponsorship of the event for the next two years.

The 2006 event will be held in Weymouth, Great Britain from 12-21 July and in 2007 the event will be held in San Diego, USA from 12 – 21 July.

The championship is also known in the sailing world as the ‘Youth Olympics’. The regatta will host approximately 300 young sailors from up to 35 nations who will be racing in four disciplines Laser (boys and girls), Hobie Cat (mixed), 420 (boys and girls) and the Mistral board (boys and girls) for the eventual acclamation of ‘World Champion’.

Nations will also compete for the Volvo Trophy, awarded to the team with the best overall score from all classes. However, with some countries only able to send teams of just one sailor, whilst others, such as Australia, France, the USA and Great Britain are able to field full teams of 10, the Volvo Trophy will inevitably be fought out amongst the ‘big boys’.

Volvo has sponsored the World Youth Sailing Championship since 1998, as part of a global sailing strategy that, whilst culminating every four years in the Volvo Ocean Race, also supports grass roots sailing.

Chief Executive of the Volvo Ocean Race, Glenn Bourke, is happy to endorse Volvo’s approach, commenting:

“Our sailing strategy has always been to provide the broadest possible support, from kid’s events and elite youth squads through to the very pinnacle of our sport – The Volvo Ocean Race.

“I am delighted therefore that Volvo’s long term support of sailing continues with the sponsorship of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship and hope that in the future years, some of the young sailors taking part in this year’s championship eventually are able to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race.”

Jerome Pels, Sailing Director, ISAF, said: “We are pleased to continue our excellent partnership with Volvo. Volvo’s sponsorship of the event enables ISAF to raise the quality of the championship and we are looking forward to continuing our working relationship with Volvo over the next two years.”

The 2005 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship will take place from 14th – 23rd July in the port city of Busan in Korea.

The event will be held at the Yachting Centre, the biggest yacht club in Korea, which has state of the art facilities, developed for the 1988 Olympic Sailing regatta for the Seoul Olympic Games.