29er World Championships 2022 at El Balís, Spain - Day 3
by International 29er Class 4 Aug 2022 12:46 BST
31 July - 6 August, 2022
The 29er class World Championship, which is being held at the Club Nàutic El Balís, heads into the Finals stage of the competition, starting Thursday 4th August.
After three days of qualifying races, the Italians Alex Demurtras/Giovanni Santi have stormed into the lead and face a fight for the title with a four-point advantage over the Italians Zeno Valerio Marchesini/Carlo Vittoli.
The Spaniards Yoel Hernández/Álvaro Alonso lost their status as leaders on Day 3 and have fallen to ninth position although only 19 points separate 1st to 10th position overall and as racing will be split into fleets by results, the competition will reach a new intensity.
Unlike the second day, on Wednesday 3rd three quick races were held in all groups, with a solid wind of eleven knots from the southwest, dropping as the day progressed.
The Italian crews showed their dominance with Demurtras/Santi scoring two firsts and a third; while Marchesini/Vittoli finished with two thirds and a first. Close behind, two French teams, Tom Goron/Mael Clochard and Keo Devaux/Enael Rio, fought for third place and go into the Gold fleet on Day 4 tied on points in third and fourth position respectively. Goron/Mael also sit as the top placed U17 team going into the final series.
The top Female team, ESP Paula Laiseca/Isabel Laiseca currently sit in 21st position overall, only 8 points off the top ten, with IRL Lucia Cullen/Alana Twomey one point behind.
Day four of the World Championship and the 242 boat fleet will again be divided into six fleets, but by results so that the top 40 boats will race against each other in the Gold fleet for the final scheduled eight races. The results are very tight at the top and this looks to be an incredibly closely fought battle to be crowned 2022 29er World Champions in both the Men's and Women's fleets.
More information at 29erworlds.org