2019 Youth Match Racing World Championship at Gubernskiy Yacht Club - Overall
by Natalia Saltanova 17 Aug 2019 20:32 BST
12-17 August 2019
Knowing the forecast promised a dead calm, the YMRWC 2019 Race committee was hoping to see a wind on the water of the Verkh-Isetsky pond this early morning, as it was on the 16th of August.
Due to this the racing program had to be changed and the preparation for the competitions day was assigned to 6 am, to start the racing at 7 o'clock. But when all gathered at the pier, the wind didn't blow.
The Race committee came to the water to monitor the situation but the wind strength didn't surpass 2 knots which are not enough to start the racing.
Having the 2nd Round Robin incomplete the Race Committee had to use the special rule from the International Racing rules of Sailing to rank the participants according to the results in the races held.
The top of the podium gets the Australian team which pulled ahead from the very first day and was holding the leading positions all the others. New Zealand is on the 2nd place, and the Danish team gets bronze.
Some of the participants shared their emotions with us.
Tom Grimmes, the gold-awarded Australian team skipper gave us a short interview.
"You were leaders during all competitions. Wasn't it boring for you?"
"I think with the ranking of the fleet and style of the racing it's never really clear who's going to win. We had a really good start, a strong start. We were fortunate about it. Who knows what would happen if we had last three days of the racing? We were not bored at all. All runs were really good here."
"What are your impressions about competitors, especially about the New Zealand team, the weather and Russia, in general?"
"Nick and his team from New Zealand were probably one of the strongest competitors that we had to race against here. It's pretty disappointing that we didn't end up facing him in the finals because it could be a better sailing that any of us had ever done. It was going to be really cool to raise this guy in the finals because he has a lot of experience and he is a high-ranking sailor.
I think the experience here has been really good, all runs have been so welcoming and coaches are really not different from anywhere else. Boats were one of the best boats we sailed in match racing because they are unique in the way they are handled: something between a big and a small boat. I think that the shifty race makes it not really boring, and you always have to be on your toes. The racing was always really active and hard.
It is a wonderful place, I'm really fortunate to have an opportunity to come to Russia. I don't know if I'll have any more chance to come here. I think you guys have set a really high class with these boats and how they handle. It was such a great match racing event, I'm happy to be here."
Nick Egnot-Johnson, Team New Zealand:
"We are a bit disappointed with the result because we did a really good race today. We have been on the verge of winning the competition but we can only deal with the weather conditions given. Despite we were unlucky we are still happy to be the second."
"It is tough losing the Australian team because they have been our rivals for the long time. However it was a strong competition with lots of good teams so we are still happy to be the second, especially when so many good teams are behind us."
Jeppe Borch, Team Denmark:
The teams were going close, and we were really tight with the Team Poland but we managed to get ahead in the end. Of course, a little technical details helped us. We can only accept that there were no wind and that we sailed from time to time.
All the time we were curious what could have happened if we could sail more. But in the end, getting that we are the third at the competition of such level, we can't be disappointed because all the sailors did well.
Team Russia took the 10th place of the YMRC 2019. Mark Abdrakipov, the skipper, told us about the experience the Chelyabinsk team gained.
"It was interesting to sail with other teams, they were strong rivals. I learned a lot of new tactics. This was our first World championship. After races, we analyzed our rivals' techniques. I was surprised that all the teams used the spinnaker with weak winds in the precise area. It gives them more advantages in speed. Some of the tactics we learnt we will try to use on next events, but also before, we will try to repeat them on trainings. It was important experience that probably will help us in the future. Also strong teams make us stronger too. We are gaining more experience and after that we will work harder."