Teen ace proud to fly Samoan flag at Youth Sailing World Championships

Seeing the Samoan flag on her ILCA 6 sail for the first time at the Youth Sailing World Championships in The Hague was one of Elle Rasch's proudest moments.

The 18-year-old realised her sailing dreams in the Netherlands in 2022 and, two years later, is back in Lake Garda for the same event in northern Italy.

Rasch is not only part of the future of Samoan sailing globally but also follows in the trailblazing footsteps of the Olympians going before her at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Eroni Leilua flew the flag at Tokyo 2020 before embarking on his second Games this summer and Vaimo'oi'a Ripley will make history in Marseille as the first female sailor from Samoa to compete at the Olympics.

And witnessing the international sailing ascent of her country has only inspired Rasch to reach higher for her senior sailing goals.

"They play a huge role in sailing in Samoa," Vasch said. "Vai was our fleet captain and this was before she decided to compete and go overseas.

"They're always coming home and putting everything back into it, it's a huge inspiration and they're really supportive of me as well.

"Seeing Vai as our first woman, that's great knowing someone's done it before and seeing that you can go and do it too."

University of Auckland student Rasch was born in New Zealand but grew up in Samoa.

The teenager started out at Apia Yacht Club but Rasch will be the first to admit her affinity with the sport was not instant.

Two years ago, after mastering her dinghy craft, she was invited to be part of World Sailing's Youth Emerging Nations Program at the Youth Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands.

The program aims to support elite sailors to reach their performance potential through a variety of support options and close the performance gap between emerging and developed sailing nations.

"My family wanted our roots to be in Samoa as my dad is from Samoa and my mum is from the Cook Islands and it was really important to us," Rasch said.

"Sailing was definitely something that had to grow on me. Once you know what you're doing and enjoy what you're doing, you've got a fuel for competition and you enjoy races, being on the start line, everything comes into play.

"In Samoa, the water is the same in Italy on a windy day, we're Southern Hemisphere so hearing that here that you should expect shifts to the right rather than the left which is what I'm used to is a big difference.

"In 2022 in The Hague, that's when sailing started getting competitive for me. "It's something I can do and focus on and go overseas and represent, that's when I felt the pride and where it became so important to me."

In Italy, Rasch has been revelling in new wind conditions and knows she could be making the first steps of a long and prosperous career on the water.

Teaming up with fellow ENP sailors, the group have been sharing their knowledge and experiences from across the globe alongside specialist ENP coaches who have offered up their expertise to the up-and-coming talents.

After a whirlwind week in Italy, Rasch will turn her focus to Samoa's U21 Olympic cycle for the first time.

"The really good thing about ENP is we have made a team," she said. "I've become especially close to the Caribbeans because they're islanders but from a different side of the world and it's really nice to get to know them.

"Coming from somewhere where we don't have typically great conditions to sail in or a fleet to train with, it's been good.

"Coming back from The Hague, my coaches told me there was a huge difference in my skill ability.

"From that, I had the responsibility to share what I learned from The Hague to new sailors and there are not many of us.

"We're all communicating with and helping each other, we're all learning from each other, the different ways that everyone rigs, the different techniques and knowledge."

You can follow the Youth Sailing World Championships via the livestream on the Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com homepages and via the dedicated event website.