US Sailing Development Team member Erika Reineke from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, bested a 44-boat fleet on July 25 to win the girls 2010 Laser Radial Youth World Championship regatta in Largs, Scotland.

“I am very excited. I set a goal and went after it, and I didn’t let the results from [the previous] week get in my head,” she said, referring to her bronze medal performance at the ISAF Youth Worlds in Istanbul, Turkey. This time, she swapped podium finishes with Michelle Broekhuizen, of the Netherlands who finished third.

Reineke credited her lead to her starts and downwind speed, which worked to her advantage in Istanbul as well. “I had amazing starts every single race, except for one, and I was able to push back the fleet,” she said. “It was exciting to do that, and it also gave me confidence. On the downwind [legs], I was very fast again, and I was able to gain a lot of boats.”

Despite her small size, she knew she had the strength to keep up with the bigger girls in the breeze. “Because of all the training I had done leading up to now, I knew I was strong and could hang with them,” she said. “I felt very strong when I was hiking.”

“She never quit,” said coach Ryan Minth. “Her determination and effort were remarkable. When she was doing well, she persevered. When she was behind, she had remarkable recoveries.”

The world’s best youth Laser Radial sailors – 320 sailors from 42 countries – competed in the boys and girls divisions this week in a mixture of light air and breeze in the teens. For complete results, please visit the event web site. For the latest news and updates, please follow the team on Facebook and Twitter.

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