Two sets of Irish siblings are showcasing their skills in the final gold fleet series racing of the massive 29er World Championships in Weymouth.
In the Open fleet, the National Yacht Club sister and brother Clementine and Nathan Van Steenberge posted an impressive scoreline, winning the last race by over a minute. Sitting in fifth overall overnight and with the next Open team picking up a DSQ today (ARG 2581), their eyes are also fixed on the overall medal podium.
In the Women's fleet, Royal St. George sisters Emily and Jessica Riordan are second to Italians Malika Bellomi and Beatrice Conti.
Two of eight Irish teams are competing in the 50-boat gold fleet, with racing concluding this weekend.
A very different day in Weymouth for the 5th day and the start of the final series racing. With patchy cloud cover and 5-12 knots, all four fleets set sail early to make the most of the conditions, today for the first time racing in Weymouth Bay. With a decent swell running and occasional rain, conditions were very challenging and certainly testing the top teams from around the Worlds to find their form.
David Campbell-James and Peter Lubeck, the two Class race officers were set to work with several general recalls and black flag starts. On the Gold and Silver course, despite the hefty pricetag of being over the line early, the fleets continued to push the line and many picked up maximum point penalties. 2022 Men's World Champion Maximo Videla from Argentina and partner Juan Cruz Albamonte who was 8th overall last year, stamped their authority on race 1 and continued to sail a solid day in the lighter, wavy conditions putting them back in contention for the overall medals - 3rd overnight and only 6 points off the lead.
Australia's Ben Craaford and Jacob Marks continued their form with some solid results to hang on to the overnight lead, just three points ahead of Italians Alex Dermurtas (2022 Men's World Silver Medalists), with France, Great Britain and Hungary pushing towards the front of the fleet with some consistent top ten results all round.
In the Open fleet, sibling team Clementine and Nathan Van Steenberge, who were already in top form at Kiel Week in June, also posted an impressive scoreline, winning the last race by over a minute, which in this close fleet is no mean feat. Sitting in 5th overall overnight and with the next Open team picking up a DSQ today (ARG 2581), their eyes are also fixed on the overall medal podium, still well in reach. Argentinan's Amparo Stupenengo and Tadeo Tadeo Funes De Rioja, who crewed to victory at the 2022 Worlds in El Balis, had a tough day, although still sit one place ahead of German's Paula Claus and Jakob Schubach and Poland's Ewa Lewandowska and Leon Sapijaszko. With four races scheduled tomorrow, it certainly looks to be a closely fought battle in all three World Championship categories to reach the medal podium.
In the Women's fleet, Italians Malika Bellomi and Beatrice Conti continue to lead with Irish sisters Emily and Jessica Riordan just behind. Third Women's team is currently in the overall lead in Silver fleet and Swedish sisters, Ebba and Ellen Fredriksson, found the racing 'quite shifty and the waves tricky, but we made the best of the situation'. On sailing with her sister, Ellen explained, 'it can be hard sometimes, but when its good it's very good.' Ebba adds, 'the communication is very good, but when we get mad at each other, we get really mad!'
Top Under 17 men are currently the Polish team, Igor Kawalko and Fabian Kocieda in 33rd position overall and the Dutch team Folkert Van Surksum and Lars Ganzevles just behind in 34th. Top Under 17 Women heading into the final day is Hong Kong team Emily Polson and Tiffany Mak with the fleet's youngest sailor, Malena Rueegge and Liv Wicki, Switzerland in second and Spain's Susana Bestard Mir and Teresa Martin Garcia-Marcos in third.
