Ten Australians will compete in 7 different classes in the 1998 Volvo ISAF Worlds which runs from 28 December 1998 to 6 January at Simons Town, South Africa.

To be held on the warm waters of False Bay and centred on Simons Town, South Africa, the Volvo ISAF World Youth Sailing Championships are attracting entries from as far afield as Belgium and the Pacific Islands.

The picturesque port of Simons Town, near Cape Town, was the former home base of the British Royal Navy's South Atlantic Station.

The regatta will be conducted between 28 December 1998 and 6 January 1999. They are attracting the very best young sailors, many of them future Olympians and potential Volvo Ocean Race participants.

There will be seven classes in all. The Australian team of ten entrants will compete in all seven.

• Michael Lancey (NSW) Sailboard, Boys
  
• Allison Shreeve (NSW) Sailboard, Girls
  
• Josh Beaver (WA) Laser, Boys
  
• Jo Dikkenburg (NSW) Laser, Girls
  
• Adam Garnet/Bjorn Nielsen (WA) 420, Boys
  
• Lisa Charlson/Sarah Roberts-Thomson (Qld) 420, Girls
  
• Dan Corlett/Bradley Cox (NSW) Hobie 16s, open multihull
  

This team has considerable experience in international competition:

• Dikkenberg and Beaver have both represented Australia previously in the ISAF Youth World Sailing Championship.

• Dikkenberg enjoyed great success in 1998 being first woman in the 1998 Laser Radial World Youth Championship and finishing fifth overall in the 1998 Laser Radial Women's Championship.

• Beaver is the current Australian Laser Youth Champion. He finished first youth in the Laser Class at Sail Sydney and Sydney International Regatta during Summer 1997/98 and came 16th in last year's ISAF Youth Worlds.

• The two 420 pairings both competed in this year's open 420 World Championship in Spain. Charlson/ Roberts-Thomson finished fourth overall and look to be strong contenders in South Africa.

• Lancey, 1997 Junior Windsurfer World Champion and 1998 Mistral Australian Youth Champion, is relishing the prospect of good competition as is Shreeve who will be competing in her first international event.

• Corlett and Cox will be looking forward to the international experience, having progressively improved throughout 1998 at regattas both at home and abroad. The pair competed in the 1998 Hobie 16 Youth Worlds finishing in ninth place. They will be looking to improve their placing at this event.
  

Australian Team Leader Chris Kelly is impressed with this lineup. "The high standard of this team reflects the standard of youth sailing in Australia today," he says, "and I think they will do well in South Africa."

Kelly will coach the Laser entrants, Beaver and Dikkenberg. Paul Eldrid will coach the 420s and Nick Sturges the Sailboards.

Volvo, with an international reputation for sponsoring sporting events, is giving the 1998 Championships its full support. Through the Australian Yachting Federation, local importer Volvo Car Australia has announced this week that it is actively supporting youth sailing.

Sailing fits in with the active outdoor lifestyles of so many of today's Volvo owners and the company is becoming increasingly involved with the sport.

In 1999 Volvo will be the official provider of vehicles for the World Sailing Championships on Port Philip Bay, in Victoria.

The association with sailing then continues with the takeover of the former Whitbread Round the World Ocean Race. This will now become the Volvo Ocean Race and is scheduled for late 2001 to mid-2002.

According to Helge Alten, Managing Director of the Volvo Ocean Race, Volvo and sailing in all its forms are a natural combination.

In Alten's own words, "Volvo's core values embrace a commitment to quality, safety and the environment. These values have a great synergy with sailing as do the Volvo values of strength, endurance, teamwork and leading edge technology."