Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF Worlds at Buzios, Brazil - Overall
by Sophie Luther 18 Jul 2009 10:34 BST
9-18 July 2009
Gold for Phil Sparks and Ben Gratton at the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race
Australia, France, Great Britain and Singapore win gold medals
The seven Youth Worlds titles went to seven nations as Australia, France, Great Britain and Singapore join Brazil, Hong Kong and New Zealand as gold medal winners on the final day of the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Buzios, Brazil.
Australian cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin, French windsurfer Joseph Gueguen, British 420 Boys Phil Sparks and Ben Gratton and Singapore Laser Radial star Elizabeth Yin are 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing World Champions after a fantastic final day of racing in Brazil. Brazilian Girl’s 420 crew Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, windsurfer Hei Man Chan of Hong Kong and New Zealand’s Sam Meech in the Boy’s Laser Radial, will also step onto the top of the podium at this evening’s Closing Ceremony having already secured their gold medals yesterday.
One final race was held for each event on another bright and breezy day in Buzios and whilst seven different nations ended up winning medals, France was undoubtedly the star performer. The French ran out clear winners of the Volvo Trophy, the prize awarded for the top-performing nation, and picked up two silvers and two bronze to add to Gueguen’s gold. Last year’s Volvo Trophy winners Great Britain came in second this time around, ahead of Italy, with Brazil scoring a best-ever result of fourth and New Zealand fifth.
French Team Leader Gildas Philippe is himself a former Youth World Champion, winning gold in the 420 back in 1991, a year in which Robert Scheidt (BRA), Dean Barker (NZL), Carolijn Brouwer (NED) and Gustavo Doreste (ESP) all also won Youth World medals. He’s in doubt as to the potential of the young sailors here in Buzios, “All champions pass through this regatta before coming a real great champions,” he says, adding that this key element of the championship has never changed, “There are more nations now, so the level maybe a bit higher but for the best sailors, they’re almost the same.”
The French windsurfing team led the charge, winning medals in both RS:X fleets today; gold in the Boys and bronze in the Girls. Joseph Gueguen did not have the best of starts in the decisive final boy’s race, but all week long he’s been quickest in the windier, planing conditions and came back strongly to win today’s race ahead of Oliver-Tom Schliemann (GER), clinching the title by three points. “It’s been the perfect regatta,” said Gueguen. “I’ve worked a lot this year so this is my reward.”
“This morning I was a little bit stressed, but spoke with my coach, Faustine MERRET [Athens Olympic windsurfing gold medallist] and knew I just had to focus on my race, because it was too close for tactics. I just tried to keep it simple, just do what I know I could do.”
Last year’s champion Michalis Malekkides of Cyprus secured silver this time around by finishing third in today’s race, whilst Brazil won their second medal of the championship with Buzios local Jorge Amaral just hanging on to bronze thanks to a fourth place finish today.
In Girl’s fleet, Hei Man Chan of Hong Kong already had the gold medal secured, but rounded off a stunning performance this week with her fourth win of the series today. In the British-French battle for the remaining podium spots, Izzy Hamilton (GBR) triumphed, finishing just ahead of Leonore Bosch (FRA) in today’s race to secure silver, with Bosch taking bronze.
The gold medal had also already been secured in the Boy’s Laser Radial fleet, with Sam Meech (NZL) the runaway winner this week. Argentina’s Tomás Pellejero triumphed in the battle for second overall, winning today’s race to take silver in style. Denmark’s Pascal Timshel took the bronze.
Singapore’s Elizabeth Yin won Asia’s second gold medal of this championship with a typically assured performance in today’s final race of the Girl’s Laser Radial event. Yin began the day with a six-point lead over Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN). Heidi Tenkanen (FIN) and Mathilde De Kerangat (FRA) again showed their speed in the breeze to place first and second in today’s race but behind them the focus was on Yin and Rindom, with the Danish skipper needed at five boats between her and the Singaporean to take gold. Yin though was not to be denied, coming in seventh, just two places behind Rindom to secure the title. Denmark wins silver, with De Kerangat’s second place today elevating her up into the bronze medal position.
On the 420 course, today’s breezy conditions were again just about perfect for the British Boy’s pairing of Phil Sparks and Ben Gratton, who clinched the title with another dominant race win in today’s decider. After being disqualified from race four of the series they’ve been virtually faultless for the second half of the championship.
“We knew we were quick in this wind so we were quite conservative on the start and just went for the space,” Sparks explains, “We speeded off the line and just went full speed upwind and got to the windward mark in first with a bit of a gap.” From there only the Kiwis ever came close to threatening, but by the final run the Brits had victory secure and cruised across the line to take gold. In the battle for silver Chile’s Benjamín Grez and Carlos Vergara were looking good until a problem with their spinnaker hoist on the final reach cost them several places and this was enough for Gabriel Skoczek and Thibaut Soler (FRA) to clinch second overall. Still Grez and Vergara were delighted to claim bronze, the first-time Chile has won a medal at the Youth Worlds.
Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) already had gold wrapped up in the Girl’s 420 fleet but that didn’t stop them powering to victory in their favoured windy conditions today. Italians Camilla Marino and Claudia Soricelli have also excelled in the breeze this week and followed the Brazilians in to take second place today and the silver medal. Singapore won their second medal of the championship as Griselda Khng and Cecilia Low showed they are not just light wind specialists with a fourth place today giving them the bronze.
The Multihull – Hobie 16 provided the final race of the championship, which also proved to be the closest and one of the most exciting. Australian cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin just held off the challenge from defending champs Romain and Valentin Bellet (FRA) to win gold by a single point.
“At the moment I’m more relieved than happy, but I’m still pretty happy!” Waterhouse said after a stressful day on the water. “We just got out there and tried keep to consistent. It was good breeze and we got off the line well, got up there and just tried to stay there.”
After a shaky start to the regatta 2008 champions, the French Bellet brothers, stormed back in the stronger winds which have typified second half of the series. However, they left their charge just a little too late and although they won today’s race it, the Aussies came in third to claim gold. Silver went to France, with Italians Francesco Porro and Luca Marsaglia completing the podium.
Tonight the Closing Ceremony will be held in Buzios, marking the final act in a fantastic 39th edition of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. As well the near-300 young sailors representing 59 nations who have competed in Brazil this year, South American sailing superstars Santi Lange (ARG) and Torben Grael (BRA) will also be in attendance to celebrate the success of this year’s event.
Brits strike gold and silver on final day of 2009 ISAF Youth Worlds (from Karenza Morton, RYA)
Britain’s young guns have double cause for celebration as RYA Volvo Team GBR sailors landed a World title and a silver medal on the final day of the 2009 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Brazil today (Friday 17 July).
Gold went to Phil Sparks and Ben Gratton in the boys’ 420, the 16-year-old pair holding their nerve to seal an awesome victory on their ISAF Youth Worlds debut.
Silver went to Izzy Hamilton in the RS:X girls’ windsurfing class, the Bude schoolgirl, who finished a hugely creditable sixth on her Youth Worlds debut in Denmark last year, retaining her overnight position of second to seal her first ISAF Youth Worlds silverware.
In taking gold, Christchurch’s Sparks and Gratton, from Guildford, become the first British boys ever to win a 420 ISAF Youth Worlds title, double Olympic silver medallist Joe Glanfield, sailing with Graham Vials, boasting the previous best British 420 result of silver in Japan in 1997. The new champions are also only the fourth British pairing to win a boys’ double-handed ISAF Youth Worlds title.
Meanwhile, Hamilton becomes only the third British girl to land an ISAF Youth Worlds windsurfing medal in the event’s 39-year history and the first British sailor ever to land silverware in the RS:X class after it replaced the Mistral in 2006.
In breeze of 15 – 17 knots in Buzios, and with a 13-point cushion over Bernard Gabriel Skoczek / Thibaut Soler (FRA) in second going into today’s solo race, Sparks and Gratton knew they just had to get round the course unscathed to land the crown.
Having avoided any trouble at the start, the pair, carrying a discarded race four disqualification, closed the regatta in emphatic style, taking final race victory to finish 20 points clear of the French silver medallists.
Unable to claim gold but with only a point separating her and Leonore Bosch (FRA) at the start of the day, Hamilton, 16, wasn’t taking any chances as she set out to stamp her authority on Bosch. After inching ahead of Bosch on the upwind leg, Hamilton played a mature tactical game to sail home third in the race and win silver.
A chuffed Sparks said: “Our start today was the all-important factor, that’s when we probably felt at our most nervous but it was great to go out on a high of actually winning the last race.”
Hamilton added: “I knew if the event was windy I would be in with a chance of a medal. The standard of racing was really tight all week and when I finally crossed that line I just felt such a mixture of relief and excitement.”
Three more of the British teams also secured top 10 finishes as RYA Volvo Team GBR sealed second spot behind France in the Volvo Trophy for the best performing nation.
Adam Butler and Nikki Boniface claimed fifth in the Hobie 16 catamaran, Rebecca Kalderon and Rosie Sibthorp took seventh in the girls’ 420 and Ali Masters ninth in the boys’ RS:X.
Meanwhile, the youngest member of RYA Volvo Team GBR at 15, Hannah achieved her target of a top 25 finish claiming 21st in the girls’ Laser Radial while Oscar McVeigh came 35th in the boys’ Radial.
RYA Youth Racing Manager Duncan Truswell said: “It’s been a good week for us as a team. We’re all so delighted for Phil, Ben and Izzy but all the sailors can be proud of some of the performances they’ve produced during the week and most importantly, the lessons they will have learned.
“Conditions didn’t favour some of the sailors at certain stages of the regatta but no-one got downbeat and many of them showed in the right conditions they can compete with the best in the World. It’s now making sure that even in their non-favoured conditions they can post competitive scores and stay in the mix at the top of their fleets.
“One of the most encouraging things about this team is every single sailor has come through the RYA pathway system from Zone Squad, through the National Junior Squad programme and into the RYA Volvo Youth Squad. This is huge testament to the work of their coaches both on the programme and in the clubs.”
To learn more about all the RYA Volvo Team GBR sailors competing in Buzios visit the new RYA website.