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Three double-handed combinations who are about to compete at major world events are this year's recipients of scholarships to help this country's top youth sailors.
Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan (boy's 420) and Helena Sanderson and Jack Honey (Nacra 15) have both won a Yachting New Zealand Youth Scholarship valued at $2500 each.
Mason Mulcahy and Andre Van Dam (boy's 420) are the recipients of this year's St John's Rotary Scholarship and receive $2000.
"We think these youngsters have got exciting futures in sailing," Yachting New Zealand talent development manager Geoff Woolley said. "They're all very talented and also have good work ethics.
"They've all got some big regattas coming up and have the potential to do well so we'll be following their progress with interest."
The Yachting New Zealand Youth Scholarship was created this year to assist this country's top youth sailors who are targeting medals at world championships events.
Menzies and McGlashan have a big July planned when they will look to repeat their win at last year's 420 world championships and then follow it up by competing at the youth sailing world championships in Poland.
Sanderson and Honey are also members of the NZL Sailing Foundation Youth Team who will compete at the youth worlds and they're also racing at the Swiss national championships as part of their buildup.
The St John's Rotary Scholarship is a fund available to developing youth sailors who are targeting a world championships event in 2019. It is aimed at young sailors who have the potential of making the NZL Sailing Foundation Youth Team in the following years, allowing them to gain experience at an international level.
Mulcahy and Van Dam have shown considerable promise in their short time together and will also compete at the 420 world championships in Portugal.
Since 1996, many New Zealand sailors have benefited from the exposure of intensive international competition provided by the St John's Rotary Scholarship. Past recipients include Olympians Jo Aleh, Jason Saunders and Josh Junior and in 2018 Albert Stanley (Laser Radial) and Lloyd Perratt (RS:X) were the recipients.
See here for more on the scholarships and previous winners
- Pic: Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan won last year's 420 world title. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing
