Unlike some other youth boats the 420 Worlds & Junior Europeans are closed events due to the sheer numbers of boats that would enter from several nations around the world. This means that sailors need to be selected to represent Ireland at these events, but even though we are a small ailing nation we get exactly the same allocation of places as Italy or Spain who have very large 420 fleets.
The standard at these events is extremely high and the association strongly recommends that sailors should be accumulating experience at events in the UK or Europe before attending this type of event.
Entry to these events can only be carried out by the association who have generally organised participation as a team using either all, or a portion of our, allocated national places. Although the travelling team can on occasion receive assistance from Irish Sailing on a team van, rib and A-Frame trailer, teams at these events are self financed by parents who are also needed to help with the logistics, acting as house parents and transportation of boats in order to keep costs down. The association will on occasion pre book accommodation and/or make travel arrangements well in advance of the event in order to get best value, any outlay by the association is reimbursed by teams selected to travel to the events.
The normal qualification event will be the Irish Youth Nationals held at Easter every year. On occasion the association may declare that participation in overseas events prior to final selection will be required. Any selection criteria will be published well in advance of the Irish Youth Nationals. All our sailors are encouraged to take part in the Irish Youth Nationals, even if they are not considering a team place in a particular year.
When teams qualify for participation at the Junior Europeans of the World Championships then the association will consult with the parents of sailors on the purchase of team merchandise that is only available to qualified and travelling team members. This merchandise can consist of sailing bags, jackets and caps as an example.
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