Zac West writes, 'The team of Annabelle Connery, Jameson Prescott, Massimo Henderson, Lauren Tandy and I (skipper) travelled to Kiel, Germany to represent RSYS at the 2023 Sailing Champions League (SCL) Youth World Final, having qualified by winning the Asia Pacific Final earlier in the year. 

Our race area was a sectioned off part of harbour in the middle of Kiel, making for some very variable conditions. It was common to have rogue gusts, 20 degrees plus shifts, and cruise ships come through while racing. There was a large international presence, with the best teams from the best clubs from every part of Europe and 3 teams from Australia (CYCSA, RPAYC and RSYS) making for some very tough competition. The results reflected the complexity, variability, and how tight the racing was, with very little consistency in results from any team on the leader board. 

We narrowly missed the top 4 final, finishing up 5th overall, but top team from outside central Europe.

We would like to say a big thanks to everyone to made this all possible! A special mention to Nev Wittey, for giving us forecasts and staying up each night to coach us from Sydney. Another special mention to Kim and Danielle, Massimo’s and Lauren’s mothers who traveled with the team, home cooking each meal and keeping us on-time every day. A final big thank you to the RSYS Foundation for its support.'