EUROSAF Youth Sailing, European Championship at Gdynia - Day 4
by John Friend, EUROSAF 23 Aug 2014 07:01 BST
19-23 August 2014
The weather conditions today have proved to be quite a leveller in terms of the top sailors in each fleet, as the points totals get closer in the lead up to the medal races.
Once again the day dawned bright and sunny, but the cloud amounts increased as the day wore on, with the occasion threat of rain. The winds were mostly south easterly and at first and were fairly steady, in the region of 10 knots on course Alpha, but they soon lightened and became less predictable. On course Bravo things were little better, causing more heartache for the race officials. The day started promisingly, with winds of maybe 12 knots, but during the first race it dropped and kept dropping as the day progressed. It had been hoped to sail a fourth race for the Laser Radial and 420 fleets on course Bravo, but by the time the third race had finished there was virtually no wind at all, so the fleets were sent ashore. This means that over the four days of racing, leading up to the medal races on Saturday, the 29er, 420 and Laser Radial fleets each lost one race, with the RS:X completing their full schedule of twelve races.
The 29er sailors arrived ashore around 14.30, having completed four races on course Alpha. Consistency in all weathers is what wins series and so it is proving in the 29er fleet, with the top three crews having regularly been at the front of the fleet since the beginning of the championship. Today was no exception, with Daniel Blight and Rowan Edwards from Great Britain still at the top of the leader board, followed by fellow countrymen Mimi El Khazindar and Emma Loveridge in 2nd, with Tomas and Mads Mathisen from Norway, in 3rd place. They will be joined in the medal race tomorrow by sailors from Finland, Poland and Italy, who together make up the top eight sailors in the 29er fleet. It looks like the top three will be fighting each other for the medals, because there is quite a points gap to 4th placed Alexander Grönblom and Matrin Mikkola from Finland, but with double points scoring it is possible that Alexander and Martin could gate crash the party. Other than these four, the remainder of the fleet will be sailing for points towards the Nations' Cup Team Trophy, awarded to the top national team.
The Nations' Cup is currently being hotly contested between Poland, Italy and Great Britain. At the end of day 4, today, Poland were equal first with Italy, with Great Britain just two points behind in third place. With double points accruing from the medal races, the trophy could go to any of these three nations. The scoring system for the Nations' Cup is designed so that smaller teams are not disadvantaged in this competition, with only the best four results for each country counting towards the score.
Competition for the lead of the Girls 420 fleet is going right down to the wire, with Ewa Romanluk and Katarzyna Goralska from Poland drawing level on points with Italians Laura Izzo and Maria Giovanni Ianzillo in first place, after the racing today. There is then a gap of 14 points to Maria Vittoria Marchesini and Alice Linussi, Italy, who are closely pursued by Emma Barker and Jenny Cropley, and Amy Sparks and Milly Pugh, both from Great Britain, with just two points covering all three crews. This could make for an exciting medal race on Saturday, where these five teams will be joined by two crews from Germany and one from Russia.
In the Boys 420 fleet the top three are all very close, with only one point separating all three crews. The lead is held by Matteo Pinchrie and Ludovico Basharzad, Italy, who are equal on points with James Clemetson and Daniel Whiteley from Great Britain, with Mattia Panigoni and Riccardo Mirra, also from Italy, just one point behind. Tomasz Wawerek and Bana Antoni from Poland sit in fourth place, some 14 points behind, so still have an outside chance of getting into the medals. Joining these sailors in the medal race will be crews from Germany, Poland and Great Britain.
Hannah Anderssohn, from Germany, has led the Girls Laser Radial fleet from day 1, but the gap to 2nd placed Magdalena Kwasna from Poland has been closed to just two points. There is also close competition for third place, with Sarah Roeck, Germany and Clementine Thompson, Great Britain, locked on equal points, albeit, some 14 points adrift of the leaders. Gianmarco Pianchestainer from Italy jumped up the leader board in the Laser Radial Boys fleet after the racing today, moving from 6th place yesterday to 2nd today, equal on points with Ivan Krivobokov from Russia. He, in turn, had displaced Adrian Raczkowski, Poland, who is now in 4th place. These sailors along with another from Italy, one from Germany and two from Great Britain will compete against each other in the medal race.
Emma Watson from Great Britain is another sailor who has shown remarkable consistency throughout the week in the Girls RS:X fleet, never once having been displaced from the top of the leader board. She has been closely pursued by Italian Elena Vacca and Polish sailor Zuzanna Czuryio and the medals will most likely be shared between these three sailors. Sailors from Norway, Russia and another Italian will join the leaders in the medal race. In the Boys RS:X fleet Radoslaw Furmanski of Poland has held the lead after a scorching start to the series, seeing him post four 1st places and one 2nd in the first five races. Whilst his results have suffered slightly since, he still holds a two point lead over 2nd place Evgeny Ayvazyan of Russia and then there is a 18 point gap to 3rd placed Maciej Kluszczynski from Poland. The medal race will be between 3 Polish, 2 Russian, 2 Italian and 1 British sailor.
As we come to the end of the fleet racing part of the championship and move forward to the medal races, it is appropriate to compliment all the sailors on their excellent behaviour, both on and off the water, all week. Many are experiencing their first multi-class international championship and their attitude and approach has been outstanding. Congratulations to all concerned.
There will be a report tomorrow about the medal races, final results and closing ceremony.
Full results will be found at www.gdyniasailingdays.org/en/2014/mej-eurosaf/wyniki