A fleet of 40 junior 470 crews has descended on Nida, Lithuania, for the 2026 Junior European Championship, with the results from last week's Junior Worlds in Gdynia barely settled.
The timing makes for a compelling back-to-back. Newly crowned Junior World Champions Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio arrive with momentum, while defending Junior European Champions Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel carry the ambition of completing what they describe as a journey three years in the making.
"We began this journey here three years ago, so we want to end it with an amazing story," said Lomane and Julien. "We'll see what happens on Monday at the end of the championship. Of course, we want to win. We've won three junior medals in the last three years, and we'd love to finish with another great result."
Nida is a fitting stage. Located on the Curonian Spit between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, it hosted the 2023 Junior World Championship and has built a reputation as one of the Baltic's most distinctive sailing destinations. Racing this year takes place on the Curonian Lagoon, backed by dunes, forests, and protected landscapes.
The championship gets underway on Wednesday 22 July, with the first warning signal at 12:00. Five days of fleet racing follow before the top ten crews contest a Medal Series on Monday 27 July.
Titles will be awarded across Mixed U24, Mixed U21, and Mixed U19 categories. The leading crew in the overall Mixed fleet takes home the 470 John Merricks Trophy, presented by the International 470 Class Association.
Registration and equipment inspection are already under way, with the official Opening Ceremony today. Before racing begins in earnest, sailors are taking part in a tree-planting activity in a nearby forest as part of the championship's sustainability programme.
