The final day of the 45th Youth Sailing World Championships produced some tense finishes as medal places were mixed about on the waters of Langkawi, Malaysia.
Lighter winds awaited the record 425 sailors from 76 nations to end a regatta that has seen a constant 20 knots throughout. With the wind halved, tactics and surprises were in store and that proved to be the case with several shake ups having big bearings on who left with a medal.
The gold medal in the boy’s Laser Radial and 420 were already decided, with some of the sailors in other fleets knowing they had a medal, just not what colour it would be. There were also some who had a medal in their grasp, but just couldn’t quite hold on at the last.
Check out some highlights from the week below:
Laser Highlights
Alistair Young (AUS) and Maria Erdi (HUN) came out on top in the Laser Radial at the Youth Worlds after a hard fought week on Langkawi’s waters.
URL – https://youtu.be/7BISCIOQLXo
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29er Highlights
29er sailors from Finland and Slovenia were full of smiles back at the boat park on the final day of the Youth Worlds. Hear from the winners and catch the best of the boy’s and girl’s skiff action.
URL – https://youtu.be/bRz4_8vl0EU
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420 Highlights
There were two very happy 420 teams from Poland and the USA. Enjoy some of the 420 highlights and reaction from the winners in Langkawi.
URL – https://youtu.be/tnECbCa332E
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RS:X Highlights
Russia’s Stefania Elfutina successfully defended her Youth Worlds RS:X title in Langkawi whilst France’s Titouan Le Bosq picked up the title in the boy’s fleet.
URL – https://youtu.be/SFLHiD84FaM
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SL16 Highlights
France’s Louis Flament and Charles Dorange were nearly perfect in the SL16 as they retained their title in the Youth Worlds multihull. The pair were reflective after racing and are now aiming to take their sailing career forward.
URL – https://youtu.be/O5fNGhzk1b0
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With the sailing complete, the 45th Youth Sailing World Championships officially came to an end with the closing ceremony at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre in Langkawi, Malaysia.
Over the regatta a record 425 sailors from 76 nations competed in nine fleets, hunting for a Youth Sailing World Championships title and the ceremony was a chance to celebrate the achievements of the young sailors who triumphed.
Following a speech by YB Dato’ Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim, President of the Malaysian Sailing Authority, World Sailing Vice President Quanhai Li spoke of the ‘excellent sailing conditions’ that the competitors enjoyed at the Malaysian Sailing Centre and complimented the beautiful racing areas. Mr Li also acknowledged the help of the organising committee, volunteers, staff and boat manufacturers that made the event.
Closing Ceremony, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
Speaking of the young sailors, Mr Li stated, “It is obvious you have enjoyed yourselves and made some new friends. Above all else it has been a pleasure to watch such camaraderie and good manners. You have demonstrated outstanding skills and sportsmanship but above all a passion for the sport of sailing.”
Someone who personified those sentiments was Hungary’s Maria Erdi. Erdi was the recipient of the Bengt Julin Trophy which is chosen by the sailors themselves and given to a competitor or National team that has displayed acts of sportsmanship, respect, graciousness, friendliness and endeavour.
Following the speeches, the medal ceremonies began with gold, silver and bronze medals handed to the top three in each of the nine classes as well as the Nations Trophy which was presented to the top performing country at the Championships. This years Nations Trophy went to Australia.
As the World Sailing flag was lowered and presented to Negaraku and Allah Selamat Sultan who were representing Oman, the next hosts of the Youth Sailing World Championships, the event was officially closed.
Closing Ceremony, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
List of Winners
420 Boys
Gold – Will Logue and Bram Brakman (USA)
Silver – Leonardo Lombardi and Rodrigo Luz (BRA)
Bronze – Douglas Elmes and Colin O’Sullivan (IRL)
420 Girls
Gold – Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik (POL)
Silver – Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith (AUS)
Bronze – Maria Caba and Carla Diaz (ESP)
29er Boys
Gold – Peter Lin Janezic and Anze Podlogar (SLO)
Silver – Jackson Keon and Nick Egnot Johnson (NZL)
Bronze – Tomas Mathisen and Mads Mathisen (NOR)
29er Girls
Gold – Sirre Kronlof and Veera Hokka (FIN)
Silver – Laerke Graversen and Iben Nielsby Christensen (DEN)
Bronze – Greta Stewart and Kate Stewart (NZL)
SL16
Gold – Louis Flament and Charles Dorange (FRA)
Silver – Shaun Connor and Sophie Renouf (AUS)
Bronze – Tamryn Lindsay and William McKenzie (NZL)
Closing Ceremony, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
Laser Radial Boys
Gold – Alistair Young (AUS)
Silver – George Gautrey (NZL)
Bronze – Daniel Whiteley (GBR)
Laser Radial Girls
Gold – Maria Erdi (HUN)
Silver – Hannah Anderssohn (GER)
Bronze – Magdalena Kwasna (POL)
RS:X Boys
Gold – Titouan le Bosq (FRA)
Silver – Francisco Saubidet Birkner (ARG)
Bronze – Brenno Francioli (BRA)
RS:X Girls
Gold – Stefania Elfutina (RUS)
Silver – Emma Wilson (GBR)
Bronze – Xian Ting Huang (CHN)
The Ogun State Government is set to bring back the glorious days of yesteryears in sports, following the launch of the Ogun State Schools Sports Festival (OGSSFEST) in Abeokuta last week (Dec 30, 2015).
Speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the government and the consultants on the project, Youth and Sports Commissioner, Hon. Moroof Afolabi Afuwape said the Amosu administration was committed to making the state “the factory of sports stars in Nigeria”.
Standing) left, Mr. O.A. Koleowo (representing the Ogun State Ministry of Justice), Hon. Moroof Afolabi Afuwape (Sports commissioner) and Dr. Bolu John Folayan (MD/CEO Newswatch Magazine) during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of the Ogun State School Sports Festival (OGSSFEST) in Abeokuta (30/12/2015)
“The administration has upgraded the sport infrastructure in the state to first-class status and no state in Nigeria boasts of what we have at our stadiums and we have the technocrats. What remains for us is to bring in the private sector to drive first-class competitions. The GT Principals Cup and OGSSFEST are the pioneering efforts in this regard,” he said.
The commissioner said the government believes success in sports is connected to age and that sports super stars needed to be caught and nurtured very young.
“It is of no use discovering a football, tennis or athletics star in his or her late 20s. Most sports thrive on the ‘catch them young’ and now that sports is big business, we also see OGSSFEST as a way of fighting crime and unemployment in the land,” he explained.
Afuwape called on corporate organizations and philanthropists to embrace OGSSFEST “not just as corporate social responsibility but in order to reap heaps of marketing advantages as over 4,000 kids will participate in the yearly competition.”
In his response, the Managing Director of Newswatch Times Magazine, Dr. Bolu John Folayan, said the competition would be the first of its kind in Nigeria and perhaps in Africa.
He said a consortium of sports marketing and sports media experts are coming together to complement the state government’s initiative, not just to discover the stars of tomorrow but to also nurture them to stardom and make them financially self-sustaining.
Standing) left, Mr. O.A. Koleowo (representing the Ogun State Ministry of Justice), Hon. Moroof Afolabi Afuwape (Sports commissioner) and Dr. Bolu John Folayan (MD/CEO Newswatch Magazine) during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of the Ogun State School Sports Festival (OGSSFEST) in Abeokuta (30/12/2015)
Dr. Folayan commended the Amosu administration on the initiative and expressed confidence that the festival would fulfill its objectives.
Eight sports – athletics, table tennis, football, handball, basketball, scrabble, chess and volleyball – will be featured in the maiden edition of the competition. Preliminaries will begin in March and run through zonal and divisional contests in May-June while the four-day grand finale will take place in November.
The final day of the 45th Youth Sailing World Championships produced some tense finishes as medal places were mixed about on the waters of Langkawi, Malaysia.
Lighter winds awaited the record 425 sailors from 76 nations to end a regatta that has seen a constant 20 knots throughout. With the wind halved, tactics and surprises were in store and that proved to be the case with several shake ups having big bearings on who left with a medal.
The gold medal in the boy’s Laser Radial and 420 were already decided, with some of the sailors in other fleets knowing they had a medal, just not what colour it would be. There were also some who had a medal in their grasp, but just couldn’t quite hold on at the last.
29er
There were twists and turns in the girl’s 29er as the last race caused a shake-up at the top. However, it was Finland’s Sirre Kronlof and Veera Hokka who were celebrating at the end.
The Finnish team used up their drop in the final race, finishing 15th but it was enough to take home gold. Back ashore it was down to Kronlof to put in to words what the win meant saying, “Awesome. I can’t say anything. I don’t know. The last race was so tight, so tight. There was so much pressure on but we managed it.
“It was light winds today and all week we have been in strong winds. We knew before we started that the Spanish are really good in light winds so we were worried.”
Going in to the final race, just three points separated the top three of Finland, Spain and Denmark with New Zealand waiting to pounce in fourth, eight points further back.
As the opportunity arose, Greta and Kate Stewart (NZL) duly pounced, taking fourth to leave them on 57 points. A nervous wait followed as they watched where their rivals were. A few skiffs crossed the line and the Kiwis chances were suddenly becoming a reality and as soon as the 13th, 14th and 15th placed boats finished the mathematical calculations commenced.
The Finnish team came through in 15th and discarded the score, leaving them on 53 points. Next home were Spain’s Carla and Marta Munte Carrasco who had to carry their score due to a retirement earlier in the regatta. They held 58 points. Denmark’s Laerke Graversen and Iben Nielsby Christensen came through in 15th, which they discarded, and they were forced to count their 12th from the third race to put them on 57 points. This left Kronlof and and Hokka celebrating gold, the Danes in silver and the Stewart sisters in bronze due to countback.
With the Spanish out of the medals, what did Kronlof think caused the drop? “I think the pressure got to them also. They knew they had to beat us by two or three places.”
Switching places after the final race of the boy’s 29er were Slovenia’s Peter Lin Janezic and Anze Podlogar and New Zealand’s Jackson Keon and Nick Egnot Johnson.
The New Zealanders held an overnight lead of three points over Janezic and Podlogar so the Slovenians had to put some daylight between their rivals to get the gold. They managed it.
Explaining the last race, Janezic said, “Our first upwind was not as we planned and we were behind a lot. But then in the upwind we caught them. As we rounded the gate we were in front but we knew we had to be four places ahead and luckily we caught some shifts and we finished in front.”
Gold Medal 29er Men Slovenia 29er Men Crew SLOAP1 Anze Podlogar Slovenia 29er Men Helm SLOPJ1 Peter Janezic Day6, Final Day, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
The Slovenians finished in seventh leaving them on 46 points overall. The Kiwi team were five places behind in 12th as they concluded the regatta on 48 points. Janezic and Podlogar had done it. They had won the gold.
So how did it feel to win? “This is our first time that we have won a championship or any big event like this and its amazing. It definitely makes up for the fourth places.”
The fourth places he talks about are the finishes the pair got in both the World and European Championships but at the premier youth sailing regatta they broke their drought.
In in the battle for bronze it was Norway’s Tomas and Mads Mathisen who picked up the medal despite a 20th place finish.
420
The girl’s 420 went down to the wire as Poland’s Julia Szmit and Hannah Dzik and Australia’s Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith fought it out for the gold medal.
Thanks to day five double bullets, the Polish team had a slender advantage, and it was those results that made the difference in the end. Poland had a 22nd place which they discarded and Australia had a 13th place which they also discarded. That meant Szmit and Dzik finished on 29 points, just one point ahead of Jerwood and Smith.
Even though the Polish girls knew what they had to do, it was only confusion that entered their mind when they took to the water as Szmit explains, “The last race was horrible. We were so stressed. We tried to go with the Australian team but then we started and thought ‘why are they on the other side?’ We totally forgot about them from the start.
“The whole race we were counting the teams before the Australians and there were 12, and we just thanked god no one had a false start.”
“We don’t understand why we are first. It’s unbelievable.”
Winning the bronze was Spain’s Maria Caba and Carla Diaz who rounded their week off with a fifth place finish and 38 points. The final bullet of the girl’s 420 went to France’s Jessie Kampman and Anael Ponthieu.
USA’s Will Logue and Bram Brakman started the day with a guaranteed gold medal, but it wasn’t until late last night that it was confirmed for them.
The pair had to wait for a protest to be withdrawn before they could fully appreciate the win, as Logue explained, “We were so happy. We were celebrating so much and then we found out we had a protest and we were like ‘Wait. What? How did this happen?’ But it all got sorted and we are good friends with the team that protested and when it got sorted it was such a relief. It was good to have that weight off our shoulders today.”
Even though there was a gold medal wrapped up and an easy day could be had, Brakman still had eyes on another prize, “We wanted to enjoy the fun, the race and the pressure release, but we also had the Nations Cup in mind to get some points on the table for our team.”
Unfortunately they couldn’t help the team as they only managed a discarded 16th.
The silver medal went to Brazil’s Leonardo Lombardi and Rodrigo Luz as they had a third in the last race to finish on 37 points.
Ireland’s Douglas Elmes and Colin O’Sullivan held off a late fight back from Australia’s Alec Brodie and Xavier Winston Smith and Argentina’s Felipe Martinez Autin Diniz and Ivan Aranguren to claim the bronze medal on 46 points. The Australian’s scored a ninth and finished on 48 points and the Argentinian’s took a bullet for 49 points. Elmes and O’Sullivan finished 11th in the final race but had some breathing space going into the day.
Louis Flament and Charles Dorange(FRA)
Laser Radial
The top three in the girl’s Laser Radial finished as it started on the final day as Hungary’s Maria Erdi claimed a well-earned gold followed by Germany’s Hannah Anderssohn and Poland’s Magdalena Kwasna.
By finishing fourth ahead of her nearest rivals, Erdi was able to do what was required to stay in front and keep her first place in the regatta, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds as Erdi explained, “I’m very happy, but it was really tricky today. I was worried because I had a bad race yesterday, but I got a good start and I could control the fleet.
“I was third at the upward mark and then I could keep my place. I think I finished fourth but I don’t even remember, I just knew I was in a good position.”
She was certainly in a good position as Germany’s Anderssohn finished behind her in sixth place to seal silver.
Losing her second spot to Anderssohn the previous day, Poland’s Kwasna fell further behind as she finished the regatta with a ninth place to leave her on 41 points. That ninth was enough to stop her sliding any further down as in second place on the day was Uruguay’s Dolores Moreira Fraschini who finished just three points behind the German.
The last bullet of the regatta went to Spain’s Silvia Morales Gonzalez.
In the boy’s Laser Radial Australia’s Alistair Young knew there was no one that could knock him from the top of tree as he had already wrapped up the title the day before.
So with the weight off his shoulders, Young had the day to enjoy the Langkawi waters. With the night to think about his win, Young still couldn’t believe it saying, “Words can’t describe it still, but it is sinking in. I was pretty relaxed and it was nice because I was so stressed in all the other races and I knew in this one I could just sail around.”
His ‘sail around’ meant a 15th place finish which he discarded to finish the regatta on 32 points.
Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik(POL)
Meanwhile a race for silver and bronze was on. Great Britain’s Daniel Whiteley and New Zealand’s George Gautrey trailed USA’s Nicholas Baird and Finland’s Oskari Muhonen In fourth and fifth respectively and knew they were in with a shot of the podium spots.
A fourth place moved Gautrey in to silver medal position as others around him were not quite grasping on to a medal tight enough. Gautrey benefitted from some high score finishes by his rivals to end the regatta on 52 points.
Great Britain’s Daniel Whiteley was the big mover of the day as he also took advantage of some high finishes when his bullet jumped him in to bronze medal position at the expense of Baird and Muhonen. Whiteley finished on 58 points, two clear of Baird on 60 points.
Alistair Young(AUS)
RS:X
Russia’s Stefania Elfutina managed to defend her Youth Worlds crown as she held off Great Britain’s Emma Wilson and China’s Xian Ting Huang.
The three have been a step ahead of the field all week and their regular top place finishes meant that the medals would be shared out between them before the last day. The only thing that needed to be decided was the colours.
Elfutina held on to her title with a third place finish and it was only after the day that she could reflect on her time as a youth competitor, “I feel so happy and it’s my second time and it’s always unbelievable. It’s great to finish my youth career in such a good place with such good people around, and to win it is even better.”
Behind Elfutina was Wilson who left it until the last and most important day to move up to second overall and claim silver. With a bullet in the final race and Huang finishing fourth, it meant the two were tied on 28 points. The final race win was decisive for Wilson as she grabbed the silver via count back.
While Elfutina was defending her title, the boy’s RS:X winner, France’s Titouan Le Bosq, was already thinking about how he would hold on to his next time in Oman.
An excited Le Bosq was clearly in love with his board saying, “It’s my first world title and the conditions all week were great. I like the planing. I like this sport. I love windsurfing!”
Stefania Elfutina(RUS)
With a fifth place in the final race, his 45 point total meant that he can return next year as champion of the class, and he already knows that’s his plan, “I like this competition and I definitely want to come back and defend my title in Oman and come back even stronger.”
Argentina’s Francisco Saubidet Birkner took the silver medal following a third leaving him to finish the week on 55 points.
Aruba’s Mack van der Eerenbeemt was looking to take the experience he gained from the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games and apply it to the Youth Worlds, but mast issues slowed down his progress. Even so, he could not finish above Brazil’s Brenno Francioli who will take a well-deserved bronze medal back home for his efforts. Francioli finished on 76 points, six clear of van der Eerenbeemt.
Titouan Le Bosq
SL16
The French domination continued in the SL16 as Louis Flament and Charles Dorange again had a perfect day winning all three races in the gold fleet.
In Flament’s words, “We won a lot of races and we controlled our opponents since the start of competition.”
The French precision ensured they managed everyone in the fleet with the only blot on their copy book a fifth place finish in their ninth race.
Describing what happened in that race, a laughing Flament said, “It’s my fault. I fell in the water and Charles had to come back and pick me up.”
Even with his swim, the continuous bullets meant that they were too strong to catch, but with Flament aged out of the next Youth Worlds, would Dorange come back with a new partner? He put it simply, “I think not. We are going to stay as team and go forward.”
Trying to catch them all week were Australian’s Shaun Connor and Sophie Renouf who before the regatta had never raced an SL16. The pair adapted well to take a silver medal, but their tally of 26 points was no match for the French teams 14 points.
Rounding out the medals with a bronze was New Zealand’s Tamryn Lindsay and William Mckenzie who couldn’t match their neighbours as they fell away with a string of fourth place finishes as the regatta drew towards its conclusion.
Gold Medal 420 Men United States 420 Men Crew USABB142 Bram Brakman United States 420 Men Helm USAWL30 Will Logue Day6, Final Day, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
Nations Trophy
The Nations Trophy was won by Australia with boy’s Laser Radial sailor Alistair Young leading the charge for the team from Down Under.
With a total of 303 points, the Australian team beat New Zealand in to second on 279 and France in third on 245.
This is Australia’s fourth Nations Trophy and it ties them in second place historically with Great Britain. France are still out in front on 11 wins.
Last year’s winners Spain dropped down to seventh.
The 45th Youth World Championships closes with the prize giving and closing ceremony to be held at the Dewan Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre.
There were early gold’s cemented on day five of the 45th Youth Sailing World Championships in Langkawi, Malaysia as some moved to an insurmountable lead ahead of the final day.
As the sailors returned to shore, there were a couple that stepped back on to solid ground safe in the knowledge that they will be on top of the podium come the prize giving.
By stretching out to leads that can not be passed, the Australian and USA teams already know they will be returning home with at least one gold each.
Laser Radial
The first gold medal of the Youth Worlds has gone to Australia as Alistair Young has won the boy’s Laser Radial.
With an uncatchable 21 points total, Young can go in to the final race safe in the knowledge that his work is done despite a bad day by his standards.
Young finished the day with a seventh and 11th place but thanks to his consistently high places earlier in the regatta he could discard the 11th while his opponents had to carry their low places from the day.
Sitting on his winning Laser Radial, Young said, “It wasn’t my best day as it was crazy shifty out there, but luckily my nearest competitors didn’t have a good day either so it ended up that I managed to win the World Championships.”
The competitors he was talking about were USA’s Nicholas Baird who had a 19th place and Finland’s Oskari Muhonen who had a retirement in the final race of the day.
The Australian Young is a returnee to the Youth Worlds arena and he credits the experience gained from Tavira in 2014 in helping him win, “After finishing fifth last year I really wanted to improve on that and get to the top, so I’m stoked, couldn’t be happier.
“The Youth Worlds is a totally different regatta to anything else that you can do and having one under the belt, the experience has helped me heaps.”
Baird sits in second on 41 points with Muhonen third on 43 points, but they will have to watch their backs as Russia’s Kirill Evfimyevskiy is close behind on 47 and New Zealand’s George Gautrey has 48 points thanks to a bullet in the first race of the day.
Asri Azman gave the Malaysian team a boost when he crossed the finish line in the final race of the day in first place. Azman started the regatta well but had a dip in form in the last few race days. His bullet is a definite high point for the home nation sailor.
In the girl’s Laser Radial, Hungary’s Maria Erdi started the Youth Worlds with the aim of getting top fives in all the races, so she will be disappointed when she finished 23rd in the first race of the day. Despite the set back, Erdi turn things around to take a bullet in the next and maintains her top position on 19 points.
Germany’s Hannah Anderssohn moves up in to second place overall with a second and a discarded 8th. Her rise was helped by Poland’s Magdalena Kwasna who could only manage a tenth and discarded 11th. Anderssohn has 26 points while Kwasna has 32 points.
The other bullet of the day went to Australia’s Jacinta Ainsworth who also had a sixth place. She is eighth in the standings on 63 points.
United States 420 Men Crew USABB142 Bram Brakman United States 420 Men Helm USAWL30 Will Logue Day2, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
420
Another gold medal that was decided was in the boy’s 420. USA’s Will Logue and Bram Brakman secured the gold with consistent racing and a better day on the Langkawi water than their rivals.
The USA pair took a fourth in the first race of the day and then broke their duck with a bullet in the next race. Their high finishes throughout the regatta means that their score of 16 points can not be bettered by Australia, Brazil or Ireland. Instead the three have to fight it out for silver and bronze.
Australia’s Alec Brodie and Xavier Winston Smith currently hold second place on 31 points when they finished the day with a sixth and a discarded 14th.
Both Leonardo Lombardi and Rodrigo Luz (BRA) and Douglas Elmes and Colin O’Sullivan (IRE) are on 35 points. The Brazilians had a seventh and a discarded 11th on the day and the Irish pair had a fourth and seventh.
Italy’s Edoardo Ferraro and Francesco Orlando took the other bullet of the day and are eighth overall on 61 points.
Two bullets lifted Poland’s Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik above Australia’s Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith in the girl’s 420. With the two unable to be caught by the rest of the field, they will fight it out for gold in the final race.
The Polish pair sit on 16 points while second placed Australia are on 18 points after Jerwood and Smith could only manage a third and fifth behind the double win day from the Polish team.
While they race for gold, bronze will be contested between Spain’s Maria Caba and Carla Diaz and Austria’s Angelika Kohlendorfer and Viktoria Puxkandl. The Spanish pair ended the day on 33 points following a second and fourth. Austria’s chances weren’t helped by a 10th place finish after a good second in the first race of the day.
SL16
Right from the outset, France’s Louis Flament and Charles Dorange threw down the gauntlet with a host of bullets in the SL16 class. The pair took a giant step toward the gold medal on day five, but proved that they are human after all with a fifth place in the first race of the day.
After their fifth it was business as usual in the yellow fleet as the French duo then picked up another three bullets to add to their impressive collection.
Picking up the bullet that the French boy’s dropped was Italy’s Gianlugi Ugolini and Maria Gubilei who now stand in fifth place overall on 35 points.
Racing in the blue fleet, Australia’s Shaun Connor and Sophie Renouf and New Zealand’s Tamryn Lindsay and William Mckenzie had a bullet apiece and are second and third respectively overall. Connor and Renouf have 20 points, Lindsay and Mckenzie have 27 points.
Despite being down in tenth position, Brazil’s Diogo Zabeu and Otavia Cardoso will be pleased as they can now boast two bullets from the blue fleet on day five.
The final day will see the fleet split in to gold and silver, with each fleet having three races.
RS:X
France’s Titouan Le Bosq has guaranteed himself a medal in the boy’s RS:X despite a 15th place in the final race of the day. Time will only tell what colour his medal will be, but he is in the driving seat for gold thanks to a bullet and second.
Le Bosq has 40 points on top with Argentina’s Francisco Saubidet Birkner in second on 52 points. In third place is Brazil’s Benno Francioli which by his accounts is a bit of a surprise, “I didn’t really expect to be near the top as I’ve been training on my own for a long time, but I’m really happy and that my training has all been worth it.”
Smiling as he collected his board he evaluated his day, “Today it was a light wind day so I didn’t do my best, but I’m really glad with my results in the rest of the Championship and I’m glad I’m fighting for the top.”
His ‘not the best’ day included a tenth, 12th and discarded 17th, but it still keeps him ahead of Youth Olympian Aruba’s Mack van der Eerenbeemt. Francioli has 67 points with van der Eerenbeemt nine points back on 76.
Defending champion in the RS:X girl’s, Russia’s Stefania Elfutina currently holds top spot after two bullets and a discarded fifth place. She has 21 points.
Always hovering around Elfutina is China’s Xian Ting Huang who, with a bullet, a third and discarded seventh is second overall on 24 points.
Challenging both is Great Britain’s Emma Wilson who is third on 27 points with a 2-2-4 for the day.
Looking up at the top three is Netherland’s Isis Hoekstra. Sitting in fourth on 43 points, Hoekstra is happy with her performance saying, “I’ve been very consistent, all the time top three or four. I’m in top four overall and the girls in front of me are really good. They are sailing really well and I’m happy I can compete with them this regatta.”
But what is it that makes the three stand above her in this Championships, Hoekstra thinks she knows, “They are being consistent also. They are really good surfers and they have done a few more contests than I have. They are all just really good.”
The final race day will see who is the best in this regatta out of the ‘really good surfers’ – Elfutina, Huang and Wilson – as the gold goes down to the wire.
Spain 29er Women Crew ESPMM76 Marta Munté Carrasco Spain 29er Women Helm ESPCM47 Carla Munté Carrasco Day1, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
29er
Three points separate the top three positions in the 29er girl’s fleet heading into the final day. There is a little bit of light creeping in back to fourth position but it is by no means certain who will leave with a medal as the discards come in to play.
Top of the pile at the moment are Finland’s Sirre Kronlof and Veera Hokka on 42 points as they finish the day with a bullet, third and a discarded 11th.
Currently sitting two points back in second are Spain’s Munte Carrasco sisters, Carla and Marta, and the discard and the retirement they had on day two has been playing on their minds as Carla explains, “In race five the top part of the mast broke. My sister fell in the water. We had to capsize and repair it. Every day now we double check the mast and it worries us. In that race we were in second and if we had finished there we would be about five points clear in first place and in a better position than we are now.”
But such is sport and sailing, not everything goes perfectly all the time. As Carla said, the Spanish siblings are a little worried and it may be affecting their performances as their day had its ups and downs as Carla reflects, “The first race we did well because we were controlling all the girls and we were happy. But the second race we had a bad one. We had to get penalized so we were not really happy. The third we got second place which leaves us in second overall very close to first and third though.”
They ended the day with a second, sixth and eighth. So what do they need to do to win gold? “Win. Just win. That’s all we can do,” said a laughing Carla.
That is all the pair can do, just win and hope the rest falls in to place behind them.
The other team hoping for a win will be Denmark’s Laerke Graversen and Iben Nielsby Christensen as they occupy the third spot overall on 45 points following a 2-4-8 day.
Unlike the top three, New Zealand’s Greta and Kate Stewart haven’t had a result outside the top 10 all regatta and can not be counted out of the competition for medals. They are in fourth on 53 points.
In the boy’s 29er, New Zealand’s Jackson Keon and Nick Egnot Johnson and Slovenia’s Peter Lin Janezic and Anze Podlogar are in the driving seat for a gold medal as they have a small gap in the points back to third.
Keon and Johnson are currently top on 36 while Janezic and Podlogar are second on 39 points, and for the latter a medal can’t come soon enough as Janezic reveals the pairs aims coming in to the Championship, “We aimed to give our best obviously, but behind that we want a medal. We came fourth in the Worlds, fourth in the Europeans and I think it’s about time.”
While they have lived up to their targets with a guaranteed medal in the bag ahead of the final race, the day didn’t start well for them as Janezic explains, “It was very shifty and gusty and the first race we didn’t do to well because we just couldn’t get the shifts right. Our downwinds weren’t that good either and we finished eighth. But in the second and third race we managed to tack a lot better on the shifts and finished first and second.”
That eighth is the boy’s lowest position of the week and therefore their discard, and Janezic is happy with the consistency they have been showing, “It is important that you are constant and you don’t go up and down as that makes a good sailor, if you are always on the top.”
More consistent sailing tomorrow and they could well finish on top if the results go their way, but they have to hope that they can beat the consistent Kiwis. Keon and Johnson didn’t have a good first race of the day and they finished way down the order in 20th which they discard. They followed it up with a second and third to keep them at the top of the class.
Norway’s Tomas and Mads Mathisen scored a 6-7-9 to round out the top three on 51 points ahead of Australia’s Kurt Hansen and James Colley in fourth on 70 points.
In the hunt for the Nations Cup, Australia hold on to top spot but France have moved ahead of New Zealand in to second place. The final day of racing is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 local time where the Nations Cup and more gold medals will be decided.
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