A Gippsland coastal town is hosting a national sailing championship that has become a well-worn pathway for future Olympic sailors.
The 2023 420 National Championship was held in Metung with sailors between the ages of 13 and 19 competing for the national title on 19 boats across four categories.
Sailors competed in 12 races across four days on 420 boats which are 4.2 metres long and have two sails and a spinnaker, designed for two junior athletes.
The regatta's race officer Glenys Hitchen said many competitors will progress to the larger and more advanced 470 boat after the championship which is one of the boats used in the Olympics.
"It is a pathway for going forward to the 470 class and then possibly being selected for the Olympics to represent Australia, so the top people here will get access to further training," she said.
Ideal conditions
Former national champions James Jackson and Harrison Chapman, from Victoria, said the Gippsland Lakes had the ideal conditions for sailing.
"We definitely really enjoy it, there's lots of opportunities on the race track, great hospitality and a great club to race out of, everyone's super friendly and it's a beautiful town," Mr Jackson said.
Sailing is Australia's fifth-most-successful sport in the Olympics, with the country securing 29 medals.
Australian Sailing president Alistair Murray said he hoped these races would inspire others to take up sailing.
"I talk about how successful we are as a nation but in terms of participation we are way low,"
"We would love sailing to be a mainstream sport with many more people participating,
"Thirty per cent of sailors are women, we want that to be 50 per cent."
Pandemic effects
Ms Hitchen said this year's event was smaller than usual because many athletes have aged out of the event and the pandemic has prevented newcomers from joining the sport.
"I would say COVID unfortunately depleted the number of kids coming up through the class as it's depleted the number of kids coming up through sailing totally," she said.
"Because we've had two or three seasons where we haven't had people or students, young people doing it."
