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The principal race officer for tomorrow's 40 nautical mile coastal race, and also the start of Sunday's offshore race - from Gothenburg to Copenhagen - will be Sweden's Annika EKMAN. Ekman, an ISAF International Race Officer
from the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club, will also be the on of the Course Representatives at the Olympic Sailing Competition in Athens in August.

As final preparations for the first race of the Volvo Baltic Race concludes in Lindholmen - one of Gothenburg's four old shipyards - there are some young faces for whom this event will be the biggest sailing challenge of their sailing career so far.

Ocean racing is a highly competitive sport and nowadays it is almost impossible for youngsters to get enough offshore experience to be taken seriously amongst a fully professional crew. The Volvo Baltic Race aims to actively encourage younger crews to take part and give them a taste of racing in a grand prix event. Rules this time make it mandatory for each team to take at least one crewmember under 23.

During last year's event, two youth teams made their debut in the top tier and learned from the professionals at the top end of the sport, happily joining in what could only be described as a baptism of fire. This time, Petter Morland PEDERSEN (20) who is sailing with his brother Bjorn (23) on JMS Next Generation (Silk Cut 97-98) from Norway, says his first goal is to learn a lot. He is aware of the raw power of the V.O. 60s and what it takes to sail them safely. They are both looking forward to sailing the boat as fast as they can and having fun at the same time.

Scott BEAVIS from New Zealand was responsible for introducing fellow Kiwi, Trewren JOINES (23), to Matthew HUMPRHIES, skipper of Elanders (News Corp 2001-02). This is his first professional sailing job - he was working as a sailmaker in Auckland before. He's bowman onboard Elanders for the whole summer and is looking forward to gaining lots of big boat experience at the highest level.

Round-the-world race veterans Mikael LUNDH and Wouter VERBRAAK have three young guns in their crew on Avant (Swedish Match 97-98), the youngest of whom is 21.