Youth Foiling Gold Cup Act 3 at Cagliari - Day 9
by 69F Sailing 30 Oct 2021 04:22 BST
21-31 October 2021
The unstable weather conditions of recent days made the job of sticking to the knockout race schedule a difficult one. The last round, due to be raced yesterday, was in fact postponed until this morning.
Meeting in the third round of knockouts were Team France, Team Argentina, Katana Sailing Team, Equal Sailing, Okalys Youth Project - all of whom had survived the two previous elimination series - and Young Azzurra, who had progressed directly to the third round, thanks to their second-place finish in the initial qualifying races.
The conditions for the first races of the day were quite marginal to foil. In the first, Young Azzurra and Team France battled neck and neck on the last windward leg, with the French stealing the win by a second.
In the second race, Team Argentina sailed the first leg well and handled the drop in the breeze on the downwind leg impeccably, allowing them to build a significant lead and claim a convincing win, 52 seconds ahead of the rest of the fleet.
In the third and final knockout race, the girls of Equal Sailing started well, while the Argentinian crew lagged behind before recovering ground on the last two legs of the course to bag victory. They were followed by Equal Sailing, who put in a sound performance to ensure their passage to the final, which had looked at risk after their finishes in last and second-last place in the first two races. The Swiss Team of Okalys with Arnaud Grange at the helm, Clelia Sessa, Lauber Morgan and Filippo Amonti were eliminated in this last round, missing out on the finals.
The finals got under way in the afternoon with a more consistent breeze. Returning for this phase after winning the qualification round and earning the right to skip the knockout series, was DutchSail - Janssen de Jong.
In the three races held, the Dutch team controlled the boat skilfully in terms of both navigation and manoeuvres, winning two races with a clear lead over the rest of the fleet, while in the third Team Argentina trailed them by just one second. Behind them, the rest of the fleet had alternating results in these first races, and is looking fairly level in the provisional overall classification, with three teams sitting on 12 points.
Racing in the finals will continue tomorrow and Sunday.
Arnaud Grange - Okalys Youth Project / SNG:
"It was a pretty long day as we came out early in the water and we finished in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we lost the pass for the finals. Today it was very easy to lose or gain, which made the races very interesting but also very tricky. We did some big mistakes, especially in the downwind legs, that cost us a lot of points and the entry in the finals.
That's a shame because we sailed well during the qualifications races. Anyway, we are qualified for the Grand Final so we are looking forward to sailing again next week."
Silvia Mas - Equal Sailing:
"It's been quite intense for us with tricky wind conditions.
We started the first two races quite bad, so at the end of the second race we were out of the finals. In the third race, we had really to do our best to get points and move up the overall ranking and guarantee us a place in the final.
We approached the finish line and we knew if one boat overtook us we were out. The pressure was high but we managed it and we did it. "
Ranking - Knock Out C - Day 9
12,0 Young Azzurra
11,0 Team France
10,5 Team Argentina
7,0 Katana Sailing Team
4,0 Equal Sailing
3,0 Okalys Youth Project
Ranking - Finals - Day 9
18,0 DutchSail - Janssen de Jong
12,0 Young Azzurra
12,0 Team France
12,0 Team Argentina
8,0 Equal Sailing
3,0 Katana Sailing Team