July 26, 2005 – Cy Thompson continued the Virgin Islands junior sailors super summer with a sixth place finish at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship held in Busan, Korea July 16 to 22.
Thompson sailed in the Laser class representing the U.S. Virgin Islands against 35 other nations.
The event allows only one person or team per class from each qualifying country, much like the Olympics. The International Sailing Federation included Thompson with 13 sailors from 9 countries in the 2005 Athlete Participation Program. This program offers funding to allow a wider variety of sailors to compete a high level events like the Youth Worlds. The program included Caribbean neighbors the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. The Athlete Participation Program also offered assistance in the form of coach Jim Saltonstall of Great Britain who was available to all APP sailors.
Thompson started out with a bang, scoring a first place finish in the first race. This was followed by his worst two races a 16th and a 27th in a 36 boat fleet. Thompson regained his form over the next few days to record three more top five scores in his next seven races. Great Britain won the class with France second, the Netherlands third, New Zealand fourth and the USA one point ahead of the VI in fifth.
In the personal information section of the Athlete Participation Program, Thompson was asked what being funded for the Youth Worlds would mean to him.
His reply was, "It would be an opportunity to race against the best in the world in my age group and to learn a lot from them how to better myself. It also means representing my country and I'm proud to say that I come from the US Virgin Islands".
In late June, Virgin Island junior Thomas Barrows won the Laser class at U.S. Youth Chamionships with Thompson finishing fifth.
