EUROSAF Youth Sailing, European Championship at Gdynia - Day 3
by John Friend, EUROSAF 22 Aug 2014 07:43 BST
19-23 August 2014
Variable wind conditions, across the two race areas, result in one course completing a full schedule of races and the other only a partial programme. The championship, however, is well underway and proving a great success with the sailors and coaches.
The day started with light and shifty winds, a bright sky, light clouds and sunshine. The unpredictable breeze caused lengthy postponements on course Bravo, the outer course, delaying the start for both the 420 and Laser Radial by some two hours. Course Alpha, however, was able to get three races in for the RS:X fleet, followed by another four races for the 29er fleet, in less time than it took to finish two races for each class on course Bravo.
Whether due to the conditions, or just back luck, the leader of the Boys RS:X fleet, Radoslaw Furmanski, Poland, had his worst two results of the week, but then followed with a 1st place in the last race of the day, to keep him firmly in contention for the medals. On the other hand, his closest rival, Evgeny Ayvazyan from Russia, won both the 1st and 2nd race, to move closer to Radoslaw. With a discard, which is introduced after 8 races, they are equal on 16 points, with Radoslaw maintaining the overall lead on count-back. The pair have opened up a significant lead over third placed Michele Cittadini, Italy, who by his earlier standards had a disappointing day and now sits on 34 points, only one point ahead of 4th placed Maciej Kluszczynski, Poland, who completed a good days sailing with two 2nd places and a 3rd.
Talking to Cameron Coghill and Daniel Wilson, the Boys RS:X sailors from Great Britain, the conditions on course Alpha were a little unpredictable, with the wind suddenly increasing to some 14 knots just after the first start, but soon dropping to somewhere in the region of 8 knots, with shifts closer to the shore. Despite being 7th at present, Daniel said he thought a medal was still within his grasp, because of the double points available in the medal race. Cameron said he thought the standard of sailing in the fleet was quite high and the racing was fairly close at most times.
The Girls RS:X fleet continues to be led by Emma Wilson from Great Britain with 14 points, but her closest rival, Elena Vacca, Italy, has closed the gap from 7 points yesterday to 2 points today, now the discard has come into play. The pair are building a moderate lead over rivals Zuzanna Czurylo, Poland and Oda Skaug, Norway, who sit in 3rd and 4th paces, with 30 and 34 points respectively.
The 29er fleet, also on course Alpha, managed to complete the four races scheduled for the day, in conditions similar to that experienced by the windsurfers. Daniel Blight and Rowan Edwards from Great Britain, continue to lead the fleet and have sailed consistently all week, but today they clocked-up their worst result a 9th, now discarded. Sometimes the fleet is quite widespread and at others the racing is very close, according to one 29er sailor, with five different crews winning one race, or more, in the series to date. Mimi El-Khazindar and Emma Loverridge, also from Great Britain, continue in second place after 11 races, closely followed by Tomas and Mads Mathisen from Norway. There is then a slight gap to 4th placed Martyna Mik and Wojciech Petlak, from Poland. In the racing tomorrow it is going to be interesting to see how many place changes occur as the top three or four teams juggle for places leading up to the medal race on Saturday.
Due to the conditions on course Bravo and the lengthy delayed start to races, the Laser Radial and 420 fleets were only able to complete two races each, never-the-less both fleets have completed eight races, sufficient to introduce a one race discard.
The unpredictable wind resulted in some sailors in the Laser and 420 fleets scoring their worst results of the series so far. Even so, the front-runners of both the Girls and Boys Laser Radial fleets remain unchanged, with Hannah Anderssohn from Germany leading the way in the Girls fleet and Sebastian Kalafarski of Poland, in the Boys fleet. In the Girls fleet Frankie Dickens from Great Britain had a disappointing day, dropping from 2nd to 3rd overall, while Magdalena Kwasna, from the host country, capitalised on the situation and moved into 2nd place. Clementine Thompson, also from Great Britain, keeps her 4th place, but is closely pursued by Sarah Roeck, Germany, only one point behind, in 5th. Close behind Sebastian Kalafarski in the Boys Laser Radial, just one pint adrift, is fellow Pole Adrain Raczkowski, who is just four points in front of Italian Nicolo Villa in 3rd place. This fleet is competitive down to at least 7th place, so it will be interesting to see how things develop in the final fleet races tomorrow, Friday.
In the Girls 420 fleet, Laura Izzo and Maria Giovanna Ianzillo, Itay, have retained their lead over the Polish crew of Ewa Romaniuk and Katarzyna Goralska, but now the discard has come into play, the points difference is closer. Maria Vittoria Marchesini and Alice Linussi, also from Italy, move from 5th place to 3rd, pushing Amy Sparks and Milly Pugh from Great Britain down into 4th place, with fellow Brits Emma Barker and Jenny Cropley one point behind in 5th. In the Boys 420 fleet Italians Matteo Pinchrie and Ludovico Basharzed have taken over the lead from the British pair of James Clemetson and Daniel Whiteley, with another Italain crew, Mattia Panigoni and Riccardo Mirra in a close 3rd.
Conditions on course Bravo today were far from ideal for sailing, but all the sailors performed to their optimum, which made for some excellent racing, in demanding conditions.
The fleet racing concludes tomorrow for all classes, with the top eight sailors from each class going forward to the double points medal races on Saturday. It is only then we will know who will be crowned the EUROSAF Youth Champions of Europe and receive those converted gold medals.
Full results will be found at www.gdyniasailingdays.org/en/2014/mej-eurosaf/wyniki