Ruben and Rita Booth, children of legendary multihull sailor Mitch Booth, grab a pair of victories after a second-place start to open the 2023 Junior Worlds with a bang. The Booths find themselves in an interesting position only 12 months out from the Paris 2024 Olympics as Australian standout helm Jason Waterhouse recently announced his retirement from Nacra 17 sailing opening up Olympic opportunities for the large Australian squad. Indeed, it is their fellow countrymen, Gargett and Hoffman who sit in second place so far.
The Nacra 17 fleet is racing away from the nacra17 Fleet this week as they join the Nacra 15 European Championship in Belgium to share some multihull love. Both championships are record sizes, with 20 Nacra 17 racing at the Junior level and 70 Nacra 15 at the Youth level.
Claesens and van Rosse (BEL) round out the top three and represent the next generation of competitors from the low countries who have flocked into the Nacra 17 in recent years. With the small changes to the boat since Tokyo allows much foiling upwind and the overall robustness of the platform much improved, it appears Nacra 17 could be on a path to serious growth.
Italian multihull sailing at the elite levels is just incredible, with three recent championship teams at pinnacle events. they are not resting, however, as the next generation of Italian Multihull talent is on display.
Link to the nacra17 Racing. and results.
