Geographe Bay Yacht Club member Dennis Dixon was the youngest sailor to compete at the recent Tasar World Championships in Japan.
The Bunbury Cathederal Grammar School Year 7 student began his campaign at the world event on July 30 in Gamagori.
Dennis said once the racing started the wind was stronger than expected, each day he competed in three races, which equated to more than five hours on the water as well.
Within the first three days of the competition Dennis had completed nine races, before they were given some lay time on the fourth day of the regatta.
“I spent most of the day in the air-conditioned hotel resting,” he said.
The next day Dennis competed in two more races in much lighter wind conditions and the last day was abandoned due to no wind.
“We later learned that the race committee had pushed hard at the beginning of the regatta due to the threat of a typhoon, which did arrive on the day we were leaving, with strong winds and rain,” he said.
“I was very happy with our results finishing 31st in a fleet of 97 boats.
“My skipper and I had some good races, but also some disasters, in one race we finished 14th over the line only to find we were disqualified for breaking the start line.
“We were also protested out of one race.”
Dennis said it was a great experience to learn about Japanese culture and that he could not wait to be involved in another world sailing regatta.