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Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race

We are really looking forward to the week, it looks like it will be windy ...

Friday 10, 2009, 14:30 GMT

By Sophie Luther

The competitive juices began to flow today for the sailors gathered in Buzios, Brazil for the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships.

After lengthy boat preparations, there was a chance for some training where they were greeted by 15 knot winds and big waves. For many of them it was their first time on the waters that will be their race track for the next 10 days.

The RS:X windsurfing class was the first to face the heavier breeze of the morning, with Danish sailor Laeke Buhl-Hansen being one of them. "It was really cool out there with lots of wind, really big waves and sun," she said.

This is the first time that the 17-year-old has been to the Youth Worlds and she is just happy with learning with all the other windsurfers. For Laeke windsurfing was not her first sailing experience as she grew up sailing dinghies. "I tried a lot of stuff but I ended up surfing. It is my favourite."

Another youth worlds first timer is Daniel Segerblom from Newport Rhode Island, USA, sailing the Hobie 16 catamaran at the event with his helm, Korbin Kirk. For these two sailors competing in the heavy winds of the Brazilian winter is a little nerve-wracking as they are light and relatively young amongst the rest of their fleet.

They are both 14, but qualified for the event over a three-day regatta against sailors from across the US. "We are in it to compete," Daniel said. "We are smaller than the others and we are hoping to come back next year and the few after that but we are not only here for fun."

The Americans are up against very good competition, including the 2008 champions, the French multihull team of Romain and Valentin Bellet. The brothers won last year's title in the Sirena SL16, but face a different challenge this time around with competition held in the ever-popular Hobie 16. In fact so popular is the open multihull event this year, the equipment supplier Hobie Cat had to ship in extra boats to accommodate the record entry of 16 nations.

Lining up against the Bellet brothers, the South African challenge looks particularly strong this year. Matthew Whitehead won silver at the helm last year aged just 16 and returns again in 2009 with new crew Calene Loubser.

Another class to change this year is the double-handed dinghy. Last year in Denmark the sailors raced in 29ers and this time they are in the 420 class. The Singaporean girls' team in the 420 are competing for the second year and are looking forward to sailing the new boats. "The 29er is a skiff and moves a lot faster than the 420," said Griselda Khng,

"But the 420 is more stable and I prefer to race the 420, it's better in that way. We are really looking forward to the week, it looks like it will be windy."

Unfortunately the 420 class could not go out training today as it took a while for all 24 boats to be set up but they are likely to be allowed to go out earlier with the Hobie Cats tomorrow morning for some final tuning.

Footage and images of the preparation and training activity are available on our Facebook fan site.