EUROSAF Youth Sailing, European Championship at Gdynia - Overall
by John Friend, EUROSAF 24 Aug 2014 08:18 BST
19-23 August 2014
The EUROSAF Youth Sailing, European Championship reached its conclusion is Gdynia, Poland, with a victory for the host nation in the Nations' Cup, Team Trophy by one point from Team GBR. Both teams win three gold medals in the process, amongst fierce competition from other nations.
The top eight sailors in each fleet qualified to compete in the medals races. These were sailed on an inshore course, in sight of spectators onshore, with each fleet enjoying a separate start. Races were scheduled to last less than 30 minutes and each fleet was launched in the sequence of their start. Double points were awarded in the medals races, so after the close finish in some classes following the first four days of racing, much was at stake.
The first fleet to race was the 29er, were British sailors Daniel Blight and Rowan Edwards, and Mimi El Khazindar and Emma Loveridge, had led the field on Friday evening, followed by brothers Tomas and Mads Mathisen from Norway. Tomas and Mads won the medal race from Finish sailors Alexander Grönblom and Martin Mikkola, with the British crews finishing 3rd and 5th respectively, which meant that Daniel Blight and Rowan Edwards won the gold medal, but Tomas and Mads Mathisen leapfrogged Mimi El Khazindar and Emma Loveridge, to take the silver medal, with the British crew having to settle for bronze.
Daniel Blight said he was delighted with his win and both he and Rowan Edwards thought they had had a fantastic week. He added that the winds on the medal race course were quite gusty, making the sailing interesting for all involved.
The top two crews in the Girls 420 fleet went into the medal race on equal points, but after the race was completed the clear winners were Ewa Romaniuk and Katarzyna Goralska from Poland, who comfortably won the medal race. Previously, Laura Izzo and Maria Giovanna Ianzillo had held the lead in this fleet all week, but they only managed to finish 6th in the medal race, resulting in Ewa and Katarzyna winning gold by a ten point margin. Laura and Maria took the silver medal, with Italians Maria Vittoria Marchesini and Alice Linussi finishing 3rd and winning bronze.
There was a change at the top of the Boys 420 fleet as well. Previous leaders Matteo Pinchrie and Ludovico Basharzad, from Italy, were headed by second placed James Clemetson and Daniel Whitely, from Great Britain, who won the medal race to take gold. Matteo and Ludovico finished 3rd in the medal race, dropping them down to 2nd place overall and the silver medal, with fellow Italians Mattia Penigoni and Riccardo Mirra winning bronze.
By taking four of the six medals on offer in the 420 fleet, the Italian sailors did extremely well, only to be prevented from winning gold at the last hurdle. Never-the-less, this says a lot about the high standard of 420 sailing and coaching in Italy.
In the Laser Radial Girls fleet the real competition was between Hannah Andersson, Germany, and Magdalena Kwasna, Poland, for gold medal and Sarah Roeck, also from Germany, and Clementine Thompson, Great Britain, for the bronze medal. In the event Clementine won the medal race, which earned her the bronze medal, while Hannah and Magdalena finished in 5th and 7th place respectively, so Hannah took the gold medal and Magdalena the silver. Hannah had topped the fleet all week, but Magdalena had been close behind, but not quite close enough.
In the Boys Laser Radial fleet the top three sailors after the first four days of racing, completed the medal race to finish in the same positions as that in which they started. This means that Sebastian Kalafarski from Poland takes the gold medal, with Gianmarco Planchestainer, Italy, winning silver and Ivan Krivobokov the bronze.
It was a similar story in the RS:X Girls class, where the top three at the end on racing on Friday were the same as those who came out of the medal race in the first three places. British team member, Emma Wilson, who had led the fleet from the beginning of the championship, won the medal race to consolidate her lead and so took the gold medal. Her margin of victory over silver medallist Elana Vacca from Italy was six points, with Zuzanna Czurylo of Poland taking the bronze medal.
There was just one place change in the RS:X Boys fleet, with Michele Cittadini from Italy edging out Macciej Kluszczynski of Poland to take the bronze medal. The leader of the fleet on Friday was Radoslaw Furmanski of Poland, who finished third in the medal race to win gold, with Evgeny Ayvazyan from Russia taking silver.
All that remains to report is the Nations' Cup Team Trophy, was a very close three-way contest right down to the last medal race. Eventually, this was won by the home nation, Poland. The final results were:
1st Poland, 39 points
2nd Great Britain, 38 points
3rd Italy, 36 points
At the prize-giving and medal ceremony there was a lot of celebration by the Polish Youth Sailing Team and many of the local spectators, with the host country winning the Nations' Cup. Congratulations to Poland for an excellent overall performance, which included winning three gold, a silver and two bronze medals.
During the medal ceremony, John Friend, from EUROSAF, offered thanks on behalf of the European Sailing Federation to the Polish Yachting Association for their excellent organisation of the championship. He also offered sincere thanks to Volvo of Poland and the City of Gdynia, for their sponsorship of the event.
The EUROSAF Youth Sailing, European Championship in 2015 will be held in Brest, France, in association with Société des Régates de Brest and Fédération Française de Voile, from 11th until 18th July.
Full results will be found at www.gdyniasailingdays.org/en/2014/mej-eurosaf/wyniki
More photographs at www.gdyniasailingdays.org/en/wyniki/mej-eurosaf/galeria