2026 Youth Sailing World Championships

Date: 11 December 2026 – 19 December 2026

Location: Vilamoura Sailing, Marina de Vilamoura, Vilamoura, Portugal

Organizer: World Sailing

The Youth Sailing World Championships are World Sailing's annual title event for sailors under 19, held every year since 1971. The 2026 edition runs from 11 to 19 December at Marina de Vilamoura on Portugal's Algarve coast. Eleven medal events are on the program across male, female and mixed categories, mirroring the Olympic classes at junior level, including the 29er and 420 doublehanders, the ILCA 6 dinghy and iQFOiL windsurfing. By July, over 400 sailors and around 146 coaches from 65 nations had registered, and several fleets, among them the boys' and mixed 29er and 420, had filled to capacity. Many Olympic medallists raced here first, which is the event's quiet selling point: names on this results sheet tend to reappear at the Games a cycle or two later. December in the Algarve usually means mild weather and workable Atlantic breeze, which is why Vilamoura hosts so much winter training.

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