TENNIS, SAILING
Calvert follows in family’s footsteps
HOBART teenage sailor Abbey Calvert next week will become the first female member of the illustrious Calvert family to race internationally, following in the wake of her father, grandfather and elder brother.
Abbey will contest the 2018 International Laser Class Association Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships at Gdynia, Poland, from July 9-17.
The regatta has attracted a massive entry of 438 boys and girls from 44 nations. Abbey will be racing against 157 other girls from 42 nations.
Joining her in the Australian team is another Hobart sailor, Matilda O’Donoghue, from Sandy Bay Sailing Club.
A student at Fahan School and member of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s offthe-beach division, Abbey is the third generation of the Calvert family to represent Tasmania, and Australia, in international sailing.
Her grandfather Don, Hobart’s senior yachtsman, sailed his 40-footer Intrigue in the Australian team at the 1975 Admiral Cup at Cowes, England.
Her late father Bruce was a champion helmsman in the International Dragon class, winning the 1997 Prince Philip Cup. He also was a member of the crew of Intrigue.
Elder brother Jock is also in Europe to compete in his Olympic Finn class dinghy in the 2018 World Sailing Championships at Aarhus, Denmark, from July 30 to August 12.
Also racing at Gdynia next week, in the Olympic 49erFX skiff for women, are fellow Tasmanians Jasmin Galbraith and Chloe Fisher from Sandy Bay Sailing Club.
Other Australian crews are contesting the men’s 49er and the Nacra 17 Olympic classes at the same regatta.
Most of the Australian sailing team will then head to Denmark for the World Sailing Championships at Aarhus, a significant lead-up regatta for Olympic sailing aspirants from around the world.
In addition to the Olympic class sailors, eight crews from Australia, four of them from Hobart, are heading to Germany this weekend for a final training camp leading up to the International Cadet World Championships later this month.
In August, Tasmanians Alice Buchanan and Dervla Duggan will sail in the 29er class at the World Youth Sailing Championships in Texas.
Last weekend, Elliott Noye and a Tasmanian crew finished second in the Portuguese national championships for the SB20 sportsboat class, sailing Porco Rosso.