49er, 49erFX, FX Open and Nacra 17 Junior World Championship 2026 in Medemblik - Day 4
by Alexia Lahoud 24 Jul 16:07 BST
19-26 July 2026
Waiting for the wind on day 4 of the 49er, 49er Fx and Nacra 17 Junior World Championships © Klaas Wiersma
A Long Wait for Wind Locks In the 49er Gold and Silver Split
Today's racing in Medemblik came down to patience more than anything else. The 49er fleet's yellow and blue groups were due on the water at 11:00, but the wind simply was not there. The race committee held boats on the postponement flag for hours, waiting on the sea breeze that tends to fill in once the sun warms the land, and it eventually did, with the delta finally going up around 13:45. Both fleets got as far as starting race seven, but with the wind swinging and shifting hard across the course, the race committee had no choice but to abandon it. Another wait on the postponement flag followed in hopes that conditions would settle down, but it never came together. It was a scenario organizers had flagged as a real possibility from the start of the day, and with no fleet completing valid racing, every set of standings carries over unchanged from yesterday.
That makes today the day the 49er preliminary series effectively locked in. With no race seven on the board, the cutoff for the top 25 boats advancing into the gold fleet is set by yesterday's scores, and the bottom end of that list makes for interesting reading. Poland's Igor Kawalko and Fabian Kocieda (POL 309) grab the final gold fleet spot in 25th on 56 points, edging out Australia's Luke Rogers and Kristian Bilston (AUS 550) on a tiebreak after both crews finished on the same score. Just outside the cut, Slovenia's Svit Dujmovic Sterpin and Maj Petric (SLO 988) sit 26th on 60 points and will start the rest of the regatta in the silver fleet, alongside Germany's Franz Krause and Lars Rackow (GER 843) in 27th and the Netherlands' Ole Jaegers and Pelle Reijers (NED 977) in 28th. Safely through to gold are Finland's Aatos and Onni Kylävainio (FIN 100) in 21st, Australia's Daniel Links and Keizo Tomishima (AUS 525) in 22nd, and Spain's Ian Clive Walker March and Zsombor Denes (ESP 790) in 23rd.
With a day off the water, it is worth a reminder of what is at stake as the fleets head into the business end of the week. Italy's Lorenzo Pezzilli and Tobia Torroni (ITA 75) lead the 49er fleet, with Germany's Simon Heindl and Conrad Jacobs (GER 21) and last year's world champions Kjell Haschen and Iven Anton Fromm (GER 182) right behind in second and third.
In the 49erFX fleet, Poland's Klara Sobczak and Magdalena Skórnóg (POL 280) are out front, with compatriots Ewa Lewandowska and Anna Zwara (POL 771) second and Japan's Manase Ichihashi and Rinko Goto (JPN 717) third.
Switzerland's Henri Rothacher and Noah Strempfer (SUI 434) still top the FX Open fleet, ahead of the United States' Samantha Gardner and Noah Nyenhuis (USA 49) and Germany's Hanno Rix and Maximilian Reuner (GER 171).
And in Nacra 17, Italy's Federico Figlia di Granara and Caterina Sedmak (ITA 46) lead their training partners and closest rivals Arto Hirsch and Sofia Borgia (ITA 76), with Switzerland's Andrea Aschieri and Tine Rossel (SUI 370) in third. With the 49er fleet about to split into gold and silver and the other three fleets entering the second half of their series, these are the names to watch as the titles start to take shape.
The forecast is looking a good deal kinder for tomorrow, with a steady 12 knots expected out of the south, ideal conditions for what is also the first day of the 49er elimination series, now split into gold and silver fleets. The 49erFX, FX Open and Nacra 17 fleets continue racing as a single group all the way through to the final day.
Full schedules and results, updated daily, are posted at 49er.org/events/2026-junior-world-championship/#schedule
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