A last-race win gave Ireland's Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne sixth overall at the Star World Championships in Italy on Sunday.
The Cork-Belfast pair, who suffered a black flag setback on the penultimate day, bounced back after discard yesterday in the six races series to be sixth overall by a point.
A pair of 30-year-old German sailors, Max Kohlhoff and Ole Burzinski, who joined the Star Class three years ago thanks to the U30 programme in Kiel, were crowned World Champions in Marina di Scarlino.
Max Kohlhoff and Ole Burzinski have been crowned 2023 Star World Champions in Marina di Scarlino, Tuscany. The German duo started the Championship with a bullet and ended it with a golden star affixed to their mainsail, fulfilling a lifelong dream shared by over 200 Star sailors in Scarlino.
Star World Champions 2023 - 30-year-old German sailors, Max Kohlhoff and Ole Burzinski Photo: Martina Orsini
"Since we started three years ago, our goal was always to win the gold star to put on the mainsail. We believed it was possible, but it was definitely hard work... and doing it here, on our second attempt, is unbelievable!" commented Max Kohlhoff.
The final day of the 2023 Star World Championship started with a different breeze from the north. The day's first race started around 11:15 AM with 7/8 knots of wind speed, but it varied throughout the four legs, with a gentle but constant shift to the right. For the last race, the wind came even more from the right, 050 degrees, and the wind speed varied from as little as 5 knots to as much as 13.
O’Leary and Milne were the best at reading the wind throughout the last race, even though the first at both the top mark and the gate were the Americans Doug Smith and Brian O’Mahony. Negri/Sodano and Eckert/Melo finished eighth and 12th respectively, which was enough to keep them both on the podium: the Swiss/Portuguese team won silver, and the Italians took bronze.
The 2023 Star World Championship comes to a close with the prize-giving at the Yacht Club Isole di Toscana. The event will be remembered for the excitement of having two new young Star World Champions, emerging from a successful U30 programme run by Arnd Glunde in the North of Germany. This is a sign of hope for a Class that's more than 100 years old, which has seen great legends of the sport raise the 100-year-old trophy and can continue to produce champions.
