Three of Bermuda's top junior sailors left yesterday to compete at the Volvo Youth Worlds in Istanbul, Turkey.

Jason Saints, who will sail in the Laser Radial class, was accompanied by national coach Pablo Weber.

And James Anfossi and Jordan Saints, who will compete in the I20s, were awarded coaching provided by ISAF via the Athlete Participation Programme.

During the trip, James and Jordan will work with Olympic gold medallist and three-time Europe Class world champion, Kristine Roug of Denmark.

The regatta takes place from July 8 to July 17.

More than 340 of the world's best young sailors, representing 62 nations, will take part in what is the 40th edition of the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.

The regatta is renowned for giving the sailing world a hint of its future champions with past medallists including Russell Coutts, Ben Ainslie, Alessandra Sensini and Robert Scheidt.

Coach Roug said: "It's a real honour to be appointed as championship coach for the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. I attended the Youth Worlds in Madeira in 2003 as a national coach and have worked as a coach for many years, training sailors from lots of different countries and at all levels of skill.

"This will be my first visit to Istanbul and I am really looking forward to working with so many young, talented sailors from all over the world. They are the future of our sport and it is a fantastic champion-ship. "

Roug is one of Denmark's most famous sailing names, making Olympic history for her country back in 1996 when she became the first Danish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in sailing, the first for a Danish woman in any sport for nearly 50 years.

She was just 21 years-old when she won the women's one person dinghy gold medal sailing in the Europe class and already had three World Champion titles under her belt.

In 1994 she won both the Europe World Championships and the IYRU Sailing World Championship in the Laser Radial. She continued to dominate the Europe Class, winning her second world title in 1995.

Her success continued after the Olympic Games and she completed her set of Europe World Championship medals, winning the silver in 1997 and the bronze in 1998 before claiming her third world title in 2000. In 1998 she also successfully defended her IYRU Sailing World Championship title, claiming the gold in the Laser Radial in 1998 in Dubai.

Roug's achievements were acknowledged by her nomination to the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards in 1994, 1995 and 1996.