The Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Canada hosted the 2002 Europe World Championships. 136 male and female sailors raced each other in the Open Week Regatta. Sari Multala from Finland continued her domination of the winning spot on the podium. New Zealands Sarah Macky was second and France's male star, Valerian Le Burn was in third.

Kit Stenhouse was first Brit in 59th. Laura Baldwin also made the cut for the Gold Fleet which qualified her for a wildcard entry along with 9 others, to compete in the Worlds the following week.

It became clear from the Open Week racing that the Worlds were going to be a tough event as the conditions on Hamilton Bay were incredibly varied.

Royal Hamilton Yacht Club made an impressive effort with the event organization. The opening ceremony was huge with Native Indian Dancers, bands and planes. Catering, craft fairs, social events helped ease the nerves at this, the deciding event of the year for funding and futures. The race officers were very competent and the measurement was well run. The Canadians were all very friendly.

110 Ladies raced in two fleets of 55 for four days of qualifying rounds. Kirsty won a race, Andrea scored a 2nd and Kit gained a 3rd place. All showed potential but some high scores were placed too in the extreme shifts.

Kirsty, Bryony, Debbie and Andrea made Gold Fleet. Everyone gathered their thoughts in the lay day before two days of racing in fleets.

The high results on the score sheet show that it was a challenging event. Australia's Sarah Blank was crowned as the Europe World Champion 2002. 19 year old Siren Sunby from Norway was runner up and Petra Niemann finished 3rd. The 2001 World Champion, Sari Multala, had to settle for the leather medal in 4th this year.

British Result;

Gold Fleet;
26th ~ Kirsty Bonar
29th ~ Debbie Winstanley
36th ~ Bryony Percy
46th ~ Andrea Brewster

Silver Fleet;
59th ~ Kit Stenhouse
60th ~ Laura Baldwin
101st ~ Natalie Lloyd