PJ Rodrigues and Christian Ebbin hope to capitalise on the favourable conditions they could encounter in pursuit of their goals competing at the Allianz Youth Sailing World Championships in Búzios, Brazil.

The local pair are representing Bermuda in the 29er class and are looking forward to competing in the windy conditions associated with the region which they thrive in.

“I’m very excited, after a long year of training and qualifying and a lot of travelling, to be here for the Youth Worlds to represent Bermuda,” helmsman Rodrigues said.

“We’re looking to give our all here in Brazil as the weather is known to have heavy wind, which Christian and I favour.

“It will be a long week of sailing against the best in the world but aiming to make Bermuda proud. Happy to have Josh [Joshua Greenslade] as our coach here with us.”

The local pair are making their debut at the event and are the first Bermudians to represent the island in the class since coach Greenslade in 2008.

Rodrigues and Ebbin qualified for the championships after placing 31st among a fleet of 91 at the Typhoon UK 29er Class National and Open Championships in Weymouth, England, in July and meeting Bermuda Sailing Association requirements.

They also impressed competing at the 29er European Championships in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, in August when they clinched the title among the non-European nations and finished 38th among a 173-strong fleet.

Like his fellow colleague, crew Ebbin also hopes to make the most of the favourable conditions at the Youth Sailing World Championships to be held from December 9 to 15.

“We are very much looking forward to getting down to Búzios, Brazil and hitting the water,” Ebbin said. “Búzios is known for having good wind and, so we are hoping this will be a good venue for us.

“We are looking forward to having Josh Greenslade at the Youth Worlds and would like to thank the Bermuda Sailing Association for their support.”

The pair have arrived in Brazil battle-ready having trained in Miami in the lead up to the event.

“PJ and I have been able to do a few weekends in the fall in Miami and spent Thanksgiving break training with the US 29er Youth Worlds male and female teams,” Ebbin explained.

“We were fortunate enough to be invited the US Sailing Youth Thanksgiving training camp and continued our training with Phil Muller and his team at 2niner during the break.

“Although we did not get the wind that we hope to have in Búzios, this was a good warm-up for next week’s event and we were able to practice our starts and work on our boat speed. We felt good training with the two teams which will be representing the US.”