At a high scoring regatta in Oman, Howth's Eve McMahon has regained her top five placing overall going into the final day of competition at the Youth World Sailing competition on Friday.

On Wednesday, at the halfway point of the championships, the Howth ace dropped ten places from sixth to sixteenth in the ILCA 6 fleet but fought hard on the penultimate day to move back into fifth overall.

A 3.0 and 6.0 scored yesterday sees the Dubliner now just 11 points off the podium with the final races being sailed today.

In the Men’s ILCA 6 (Laser Radial), Royal Cork’s Jonathan O’Shaughnessy is in 32nd place overall in a fleet of 50 after eight races sailed.

Royal Cork 29er team Ben O’Shaughnessy and James Dwyer are currently in 13th place after 12 of their 13 races.

Five golds decided in Oman

The gold medals have been decided in five of the 11 events at the 2021 Youth Sailing World Championships presented by Hempel. The 420 girls along with both windsurfing and kitefoiling divisions have been wrapped up before Friday’s final races.

With the warm wind touching just over 10 knots, this was the best breeze of the regatta so far. The ever reliable Oman sun shone brightly on the sailors, and on Thursday’s gold medal winners in particular. 

Female Windsurfer Bic Techno 293+

Manon Pianazza (FRA) has won windsurfing gold with an unbroken 11 race wins. "I’m super happy, very pleased with my performance this week," said the French sailor who is looking to campaign the iQFOiL windsurfer for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. Kristyna Chalupnikova (CZE) needs to sail a solid day on Friday to make sure she retains silver ahead of Zoe Fernandez de Bobadilla Ramos (ESP) and Lucy Kenyon (GBR). 

Male Windsurfer Bic Techno 293+

Federico Alan Pilloni (ITA) was mobbed by his Italian team mates as he landed at Mussanah Beach after sealing windsurfer victory with a day to spare. His fans raised him above their heads on his Bic Techno 293+ board and carried him across the sand chanting Italian football anthems. "What a welcome! I am so lucky to be part of this team," smiled Pilloni. "It’s been a great week and a lot of fun to be here."

Boris Shaw (GBR) scored a string of seconds to wrap the silver medal for Great Britain and Ozan Turker (TUR) will be hard to beat for the bronze. 

Male Kiteboarding FormulaKite

The usually calm and collected Max Maeder (SGP) went crazy as he crossed the finish line this afternoon. The Singaporean had bounced back from a difficult start to the competition, dominating the latter stages and winning the gold medal with a day to spare. "That wasn’t easy. The first day was a blunder I never want to repeat. I overestimated myself, I guess, and maybe I was complacent. To come back was hard, I had to give it everything but now it feels great. Today completely neutralises that first day. It feels phenomenal. This is a feeling that will never get old." In the 50 year history of the Youth Worlds, this is kitefoiling’s first time in the event, and it’s by far the fastest and most furious form of sailing ever seen at youth level. "You need high reaction speed, and a certain level of physical courage because you have no protection from a hull," said the 15 year old. "It's just you and the board. When you get, like, two metres close to someone, you're like body to body with them with the razor sharp foil right beneath you, doing 32 knots through the water." Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) congratulated Maeder but promised he would make his rival work harder for victory next time. The Italian picked up a U Flag disqualification for starting too soon in one race today, meaning Pianosi can’t afford any slip-ups on the final day as he bids to defend silver from Mikhail Novikov (RUS) in third place. 

Female Kiteboarding FormulaKite

Gal Zukerman (ISR) has won gold with a sensational 16 straight race wins. Following a 10th place in a 420 three years ago at the Youth Worlds, the Israeli switched to kiteboarding two years ago and kitefoiling just over a year ago. "I have loved every moment of this week," she smiled. "Kitefoiling is so much fun. I can’t remember when I started sailing, I’m too young to remember that moment. But I have always been sailing boats and now I am loving the kitefoiling." Julia Damasiewicz (POL) sits in silver but with two retirements currently being discarded from her scores, the Polish sailor can’t afford any slip-ups in case she gets passed by Héloïse Pégourié (FRA) who lurks in third. 

Female Two Person Dinghy 420

Neus Ballester Bover and Andrea Perello Mora (ESP) have won the gold medal with a race to spare. Vanessa Lahrkamp and Katherine McNamara (USA) won the last race of the session and now move into silver position ahead of Manon Pennaneac'h and Victoire Lerat (FRA). "It’s great to win in this strong fleet," said Perello. "The Americans are the World Champions in the class and there are so many strong teams, the French, the Italians." Ballester revealed the secret to their success: "We felt relaxed all week. We enjoyed ourselves and really liked the conditions in Oman. Super tricky and hard to read the wind, but I was head out of the boat all the time, looking around for the best wind." Neus is the daughter of José Luis Ballester who won a medal for Spain in the Tornado catamaran in Atlanta 1996. She couldn’t remember what colour though. "Gold," her crew reminded her, rolling her eyes. "Your father won gold!" Perello shouted, exasperated but laughing. Now Perello and the next generation of the Ballester family have won their own gold.

Male/Mixed Two Person Dinghy 420

Kaito Ikeda and Shun Shigematsu (JPN) sailed a good day to rise to fourth place overall in the Mixed 420 class. However, the medals look most likely to go to the current top three of Spain, Israel and Germany. With such a narrow points gap, it could go either way but it’s still Ian Clive Walker March with Finn Dicke (ESP) who are looking to match the gold medal winning performance of their female 420 team mates. Roi Levy and Ariel Gal (ISR) are just three points off the lead, and Florian Krauss and Jannis Summchen (GER) are two points off silver.

Female Skiff 29er

Emily Mueller and Florence Brellisford (GBR) snatched back the yellow jersey from Charlie Leigh and Sophie Fisher (USA), a race win giving the British a 5 point advantage going into the final day. Alja Petric and Katja Filipic (SLO) hold third overall ahead of Denmark. 

Male Skiff 29er

Hugo Revil & Karl Devaux (FRA) looked likely to wrap up the boys’ 29er fleet today but an 11th in the last of three races will mean they will have to fight for their gold on Friday. The French are within striking range of their closest rivals in Friday’s concluding race. Ian and Noah Nyenhuis (USA) had the best day and have risen up to silver medal position, displacing to third another sibling team from Spain, Mateo and Simon Codoñer Alemany (ESP). 

Female One Person Dinghy ILCA 6

After two individual race wins by Emerging Nations sailors on Wednesday, another EN competitor from Peru, Florencia Chiarella (PER) has turned on the afterburner on her Ziegelmeyer ILCA 6 dinghy. Scores of 4 and 3 have rocketed the Peruvian up to first overall, with a 15 point buffer on Anja von Allmen (SUI). However Chiarella can’t afford any major errors on the final day because she’s currently discarding a UFD disqualification worth a hefty 47 points. Zulal Alev Erkan (TUR) is in bronze medal position but still within a shot of gold if Peru and Switzerland slip up on banana skins. 

Male One Person Dinghy ILCA 6

José Gomes Saraiva Mendes (POR) extended his advantage over Sebastian Kempe (BER) after the Bermudian became one of many to fall foul of the dreaded black flag at the start. Kempe bounced back from black flag disappointment with a bullet in the next race and maintains silver position with a four point lead over Przemyslaw Machowski (POL). Two points off the podium and with a better discard than Bermuda and Poland is Luka Zabukovec (SLO).

Mixed Two Person Multihull Nacra 15

Kay Brunsvold and Cooper Delbridge (USA) have taken the yellow jersey off the French team, Thomas Proust and Eloïse Clabon (FRA). With a single point’s advantage to the Americans, watch out for a match race between USA and France. That said, the Nacra 15 fleet still has two races to run on Friday. Waiting in the wings are the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium who are still able to pounce on gold.

The final day of competition for the 335 sailors from 59 nations takes place on Friday 17 December, starting at 1200 hours local time.

Full results here

Royal Cork's Johnny Durcan and the National Yacht Club's Nicole Hemeryck are ready for battle at the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships in New Zealand this Friday. Both the Irish sailors will compete in the Laser Radial class which will see the most countries and possibly the most diverse experience levels of all the fleets taking part.

When the racing begins in Auckland on December 16, the Irish sailors will meet time international racers, Youth Olympians and even senior level Olympians.

The girl's fleet will boast three Rio 2016 Olympic competitors who will feel they can push for the podium positions in a competition where sailing as the only country representative is few and far between.

Uruguay's Olympic flagbearer, Dolores Moreira Fraschini and Malaysia's Nur Shazrin Mohamed Latif represented their countries at the summer Games and so did last year's Youth Worlds champion, Hungary's Maria Erdi.

Speaking about her title defence Erdi said, "I'm very excited. I've been waiting for this event all year and it's finally here. I can't wait to see all the people. I was only racing in the open fleet this year and I was missing the youth fleet a lot. It will be also interesting to see how much the girls have improved.”

Some of those girls focussing on improvement are the competitors from the emerging nations like Venezuela's Nicolle Gonzalez and Egypt's Khouloud Mansy who have been getting in some last minute coaching in New Zealand from the World Sailing nominated experts.

Realistic about her chances, Mansy said, "I'm looking forward to it because it's my first time taking part. I know I'm not going to get the best results but I came here to do my best and for the whole experience. Make new friends. The weather. The event as a whole and just gradually improving.”

Gonzalez is taking a different approach and praying for the right conditions to give her a little edge, "I hope that it's not too windy. Ideally I want 5-7 knots and if it is those kinds of conditions I hope to be near the top of the fleet. If not, I just have to do my best and take the experience forward for next year.”

As well as international regatta novices and Olympians, there is also the returning 2015 silver medallist from Germany, Hannah Anderssohn. Anderssohn will resume her dual with champion Erdi from Langkawi, Malaysia last year.

Also in the mix will be Aruba's Odile van Aanholt who holds a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) silver medal in the Byte CII from Nanjing 2014.

There will be a new champion in the boy's section as Australia's Alistair Young is aged out paving the way for New Zealand's George Gautrey and Great Britain's Daniel Whiteley to move up from the respective silver and bronze medals they won in 2015.

As Gautrey and Whiteley return, two sailors either side of the pair in terms of Youth Worlds experience are Guatemala's Matias Rosenberg Callejas and Slovakia's Patrik Melis.

"It's my first Youth Worlds,” said Callejas, "I'm just 14 and hopefully I will have four more Youth Worlds after this and I want to do the best now and then make sure I do better next year. This year is more about experience.”

Returning to the Youth Worlds, Melis is very much excited about the challenge ahead, "Of course I am looking forward to it. It's going to be my third Youth Worlds and I want to improve my results from the last two years. New Zealand is a great place and I'm really going to enjoy it.”

There is also some YOG experience in the boy's fleet with sailors like Teariki Numa (PNG) and Asri Azman (MAS) as well as the Nanjing 2014 Byte CII winner, Bernie Chin from Singapore.

The Laser Radial boys fleet will begin at 10:55 local time on 16 December and the girls fleet begin at 11:10. Both have two races.

Howth Yacht Club's Douglas Elmes (17) and Colin O'Sullivan (16) have won a bronze medal for Ireland at the World Youth Sailing Championships that concluded in Malaysia today. The Irish National Champions sailed a consistent series in the 420 dinghy that saw them edge out a top Australian pairing in the closing stage of the nine race regatta to take Ireland's first double–handed world youth medal in 19 years. 

Irish celebrations started as soon as the boys hit the beach in Langkawi to toast the result that equals the ISAF double handed bronze won by Laura Dillon and Ciara Peelo in the Laser II dinghy two decades ago. In another boost for Irish youth sailing, it is the third youth medal in four years for Ireland with Laser sailors Finn Lynch and Seafra Guilfoyle winning world silver in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

Strong breezes swept the pair to the top of the fleet at the early stages in the competition, stunning some of their international competition but there was no surprise in the Irish camp when the on form duo moved into third overall on Wednesday after four races. They leap–frogged last year's Singaporean gold medallist Singapore's Jia Yi Loh, now sailing with Matthew Lau, in fourth to include a well earned win in race three. Although they dropped to fourth and on equal points wih Brazil in race seven, a race eight disqualification for the Aussies, Alec Brodie and Xavier Winston Smith, handed a bronze opportunity – and a possible silver too – to Ireland.

In the end, Gold went to American's Will Logue and Bram Brakman with a race to spare, the silver medal went to Brazil's Leonardo Lombardi and Rodrigo Luz, as they had a third in the last race, to finish on 37 points.

Elmes and O'Sullivan held off a late fight back in race nine from the Australian's and Argentina's Felipe Martinez, Autin Diniz and Ivan Aranguren, to claim bronze on 46 points. The Australian's scored a ninth and finished on 48 points and the Argentinian's took a bullet for 49 points. Elmes and O'Sullivan (below) finished 11th in the final race but had some breathing space going into the day, just enough to ensure Ireland was not going to be denied its long overdue double–handed medal.

Douglas Elmes (left) and Colin O'Sullivan World Youth Sailing Bronze medal winners in the 420 dinghy

As David O'Brien reported in the Irish Times reported last Friday, the Irish Leaving certificate students left for Malaysia on a high note this month when they won an end of season UK regatta to put them in top gear ahead of their Youth Worlds debut. It's not the only season success either; Elmes from Kilkenny and O'Sullivan from Malahide, now sailing together for 15 months, made a clean sweep of the Irish calendar, taking all four regional championships.

The former Optimist sailors also took a strong fifth place at Kiel week international regatta in Germany in June and – despite a broken toe later in the Summer – made the international qualification for this week's Youth Worlds in Japan at the 420 Worlds.

Podium for the 420 boys #YouthSailing #2015YouthWorlds pic.twitter.com/aNNz2ViB5D

— ISAF Youth Worlds (@youthworlds) January 3, 2016

In addition to the 420 success, Irish sailors Aisling Keller and Liam Glynn had excellent results in the stiffest of competitions. In the Girls Laser Radial class, Lough Derg's Keller finished strongly to earn a 10th place overall - the best result in a generation of youth females. Glynn finished the event strongly and jumped back into the top 15.

The sailors are now preparing for the closing ceremony in Langkawi. Spot the Irish team top left in this video from the venue below:

Final take! #YouthSailing pic.twitter.com/8dhStreAOW

— ISAF Youth Worlds (@youthworlds) January 3, 2016

After the first two races of the first day of the Youth World Championships in Malaysia two of three Irish boats are in the top ten of their respective fleets. Howth Yacht Club's Doug Elmes and Colin O'Sullivan counted a 3,13 and are lying 7 out of 33. Ballyholme's Lase sailor Liam Glynn took an 8 and 11 and are lying 8th out of 65. Aisling Keller from Lough Derg Yacht Club in Tipperary has 19, 15 and is lying 16 out of 48.

Day one began with a full on wind to greet the sailors for the first races of the 45th Youth Sailing World Championships.
Laser radial and RS:X were the first fleets back ashore after facing the gusting wind that was hitting 20 knots on the race areas.

With everyone trying to get off to a flyer to set up their tilt at a gold medal, today was reserved for the few who liked the stronger winds that Langkawi had to offer for it's first racing day.

Laser Radial

Returning to the Youth Worlds after finishing fifth in Tavira, Portugal last year, Australia's Alistair Young got off to a great start with a bullet in the first race and a fourth in the second to sit on top of the leaderboard after the first day of racing.

Obviously wanting to push in to the medal places, the Aussie was happy to have strong wind to start of the regatta, conditions which the youngster enjoys, "It started off pretty windy, about 20 knots in the first race and pretty choppy. I managed to do alright though. I picked the shifts and sailed fast and won the race which was great to calm the nerves first race in."

Calm the nerves it has as he looks at the days to follow and the possible drop in knots that could come, "We may get some lighter winds so it will be shiftier so we will all get some bigger scores, so the drops will be needed later on. I prefer the stronger winds but I don't mind to be honest. What you get is what you get so you just have to go out there and do what you can in the conditions that are there."

The second winner of the day was Finland's Oskari Muhonen, who was also at Tavira with Young, so experience in the regatta came to the fore. The Finnish sailor's bullet followed a ninth and leaves him laying in fourth overall.

Ecuador's Matias Dyck must have been feeling happy and confident going in to the second race after finishing just behind Young in race one. That was short lived though when he was one of nine sailors to be black flagged out of race two. The Ecuadorian will be looking to drop that from his scorecard with some good sailing for the rest of the regatta.

USA's Nicholas Baird and New Zealand's George Gautrey finished near the top of the order in both races to sit in second and third respectively.

In the girl's section, the top five is held by Europe with Poland's Magdalena Kwasna currently in pole position on six points thanks to a bullet and fifth place. With a ninth place finish in Tavira, Portugal, it would seem that just like the boy's fleet, experience in this event is paying off on the first day.

Sitting just behind in second is Hungary's Maria Erdi who somehow seems to defy her age with an attitude and outlook of a seasoned competitor. Despite making mistakes throughout both races, Erdi never let it get to her as she says with her ever present smile, "I'm happy with my results but I did make some mistakes. I was leading in the first race quite a lot in the first upwind and then I capsized twice in the first downwind so I dropped back to fifth. But I managed to come back to finish third.

"In the second race it was quite tricky, I think I was about tenth around the first mark but managed to move up and finished fifth."

So how does a sailor at the Youth Worlds handle the mistakes? Simply it would seem for the young Hungarian, "I tried to forget about the first race at the second start and I had a clear head. But it's only the first day so anything can happen."

Even with self-confessed mistakes, Erdi sits in second, joint on eight points with Germany's Hannah Anderssohn who had a steady day with two fourth place finishes.

Taking the first bullet of the day was New Zealand's Alexandra Nightingale who couldn't carry the form through to the second race where she finished 19th. Nightingale currently sits in tenth place overall with those two results.

The 45th edition of the Youth Sailing World Championships has been declared open by World Sailing Vice President Chris Atkins at the opening ceremony in Langkawi, Malaysia.

During the ceremony, 425 sailors, 125 coaches and officials from a record 76 countries paraded towards the Astaka of the Lagenda Park with their national flags waving for all to see.

The event breaks all previous numbers in terms of participation and number of nations. The previous best of 67, achieved at the 2014 event in Tavira, Portugal, was easily surpassed with a number of new and returning nations in Malaysia.

Racing continues through to 3 January 2016 where nine Youth World Sailing Champions will be crowned.

#Angling - Following the news that Ireland's bronze-winning anglers will host next year's Shore Angling Worlds in Wexford comes confirmation that the FIPS-ed Youth Worlds will be held in Cork in 2017.

According to The Corkman, more than 40 teams from around the globe will make the trip to Coachford for the championships that will be fished on Inniscarra Reservoir.

And it's set to be the biggest world championship angling event ever staged in Ireland, says National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland (NCFFI) president Der Casey.

The Corkman has more on the story HERE.

#youthworlds – The pre-race guarantee of a medal did nothing to stop Seafra Guilfoyle's final bid to reclaim his week long lead at the ISAF youth woulds in Tavira, Portgual this afternoon. In the end the Royal Cork 18–Year–old sailed superbly to win race nine but it was not ernough to catch Spain's Joel Rodriguez who took the Gold. Gulfoyle matched Ireland's only other ISAF youth silver when he overhauled Ryan Lo of Singapore.

Guilfoyle  competed against 56 other nations in the boys Laser Radial class to become the third ever Irish sailor to medal at this prestigious event.

"This morning I knew I had a medal secured so I had nothing to lose. My plan with my coach Russell was to sail as fast as I could and I went out there and won the race. I nearly had gold but in the last minute Joel moved up to finish fourth. I tried my best and I'm still thrilled with the result. I've the Laser Radial Worlds next week in Poland so hopefully I can medal there too".

Racing began on Monday  in Tavira and Séafra was quick to set the tone for the week, winning the first race and propelling himself to the top of the leader board. During the first three days of the championship Séafra remained untouched in pole position after six races. Then, dramatically, a 16th in yesterday's penultimate race saw the teenager slip to third for the first time. However Séafra had already generated enough of a points lead to guarantee himself a spot on the podium.

The final deciding race began this afternoon shortly before 1pm in 11 knots. Séafra, overnight leader Joel Rodriguez Perez from Spain and Ryan Lo from Singapore – separated by only seven points - were all in contention for Gold. A battle between the trio unfurled off the Algarve coast but it was Séafra who came out on top to win the final race. Rodriguez Perez finished fourth putting him four points clear of Guilfoyle to claim the Gold.

In 2012 Séafra's former ISA Academy teammate Finn Lynch won Silver, prior to which only bronze had been claimed by duo Ciara Peelo and Laura Dillon in 1996. Finn is now sailing full-time and will compete at the Olympic qualifiers in September with the 2016 Rio Olympics firmly in his sights.

The ISAF Youth Worlds is widely recognised as being the equivalent of the youth sailing Olympics. Only one sailor is allowed to compete per nation in each class with Séafra having qualified to represent Ireland earlier this year.

 

 

#youthsailing – Ireland's silver medallist from last year's ISAF Youth Worlds on Dublin Bay has not been selected to sail for Ireland at this year's championships in Cyprus.

An eight-sailor squad will represent Ireland at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Cyprus this summer after an intense battle for places saw selection go down to the last race of the trials at the Youth National Championships on Lough Derg.

The team was announced this afternoon by the Irish Sailing Association.

In the Laser Radial class Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough Yacht Club) will sail in the boys division and in the Girls cartegory Sarah Eames of (Ballyholme Yacht Club) will sail.

In the 420 double habded class Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove of Howth Yacht Club have been selected and girls pairing of Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain (Kinsale Yacht Club) and Jill McGinley (Royal Cork Yacht Club)are also named.

In the open 29er Skiff last year's representatives Sean and Tadgh Donnelly (National Yacht Club) will race again.

The team of five boys and three girls will compete across three different classes at the most prestigious international youth sailing event which will take place in Limassol, Cyprus from the 13 – 20 July.

Only one male and one female place was offered in each class and the contenders had to meet both international standards as well as win their category at the Youth National Championships in April in order to be selected.

In the Laser Radial class Ireland will have male and female representatives, both hailing from Northern Ireland. Robbie Gilmore from Belfast had met the international standard along with eight other male sailors prior to the Youth Nationals on Lough Derg.

That provided an equally nerve-wracking and exciting four day, 11 race deciding regatta as the top sailors battled it out for the coveted spot. Robbie took the lead in the early stages but was pursued  by last year's ISAF Youth Worlds silver medallist Finn Lynch who was determined to return to the championship for a second year. Ultimately it came down to the final day of racing but Lynch was unable to surpass Gilmore's impressive results.

In the girl's category Sarah Eames from Lisburn was triumphant beating her nearest female rival Sorcha Ni Shuilleabhain by eight points and thus earning her a place on the Youth Worlds team.

Ireland will also have both male and female representatives in the two-person 420 class. Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove from Dublin were among three male teams already at international standard and hoping for a win at the Youth Nationals.

Competition was fierce as the top four teams continuously swapped positions on the leader board. It came down to the final race where the duo took the bullet and deservedly the overall win. In the girl's category a young Cork pairing, Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain and Jill McGinley were the somewhat surprise winners.

The girls, although incredibly talented sailors, were much younger than their opponents and had set their sights on 2014. However they dominated throughout the regatta and ultimately beat the Dublin McDowell cousins who had been tipped for the place. With the Youth Nationals win under their belt they travelled to Wales at the end of April for the qualification event and successfully finished 6th overall where only the top eight would meet the international standard.

The final team to earn their place for the second year in a row are brothers Sean and Tadgh Donnelly from Dublin. They will be competing in the 29er class where they will hope to improve on their 10th overall finish at last year's event which was held on Dublin Bay.

Ireland Squad for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships 2013

Laser Radial
Boy: Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough Yacht Club)
Girl: Sarah Eames (Ballyholme Yacht Club)

420
Boys: Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove (Howth Yacht Club)
Girls: Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain (Kinsale Yacht Club) and Jill McGinley (Royal Cork Yacht Club)

29er
Open: Sean and Tadgh Donnelly (National Yacht Club)

#isafyw12 – Cool heads and steely nerves were among the vital attributes required to achieve ultimate success as the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth World Sailing Championships finished on Dublin Bay in Ireland.

Across the eight different classes the finale was marked by light, conflicting breezes with at least as many title upsets unfolding through the day as there were expected winning scenarios playing out on cue.

In the evenly balanced 420 Boys class a hard earned final race victory by Barcelona's twin brothers David and Alex Charles won them the title, complementing the gold medal in the 29er skiff class which was secured on Thursday by club mates Carlos Robles and Florian Trittel.

The Charles brothers went into the last race in third, considering themselves outsiders for the gold medal, but they were able to capitalise on their own great start whilst their nearest rivals, the French pair which have lead most of the regatta – Guillaume Pirouelle and Valentin Sipan - tussled in the depth of the fleet with the Netherlands Pieter Goedhart and Lars Van Steklenborg

"We have been consistent in very difficult conditions and that has made the difference." Concluded Alex Charles.

While the two pairs of Spanish gold medallists celebrated together, all good friends who started out in Optimists together at the same club some 20kms up the coast from the Catalan capital, there was a tough measure of heartache for the USA's Mitchell Kiss in the Laser Radial Boys class.

Just as the French duo had been arithmetical favourites to win the 420, so Kiss had this morning looked poised to deliver in the Boys Radial fleet.

But, with a BFD disqualification as his discard result, Kiss ultimately fell prey to Australia's Mark Spearman who held his nerve and corralled the class leader to the back of the fleet on the first leg.

There was no way of breaking free for the unfortunate American sailor who crossed the line 52nd with the Perth WA sailor one place ahead.

That being Spearman's discard race he secured Australia's only gold medal of the championships.

"My worse race was 17th so I was always going out to do what I did. We stayed on a knock for ages and when we tacked back and from there we were last and second last.

It is part of racing to do that. I was able to do that because I had sailed consistently in the rest of the regatta." Said Spearman, "It is an inspiration to see the form of Tom Slingsby and Tom Burton at the moment, but they are people I want to beat in the future. You have to get to that level. It is a long road but this is a stepping stone. Everyone else has had good and bad races, I have been consistent, sailing safely with less risk, starting one third from either end and tacking on the right shifts."

The most emotional moments of the regatta came fittingly when Dublin's 16 year old Finn Lynch was carried shoulder high from his native waters, still in his Laser Radial, after sailing to silver, the best ever ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships finish for the host nation which has delivered a truly memorable, perfectly executed regatta.

In the Laser Radial girls class Gothenburg's Julia Carlsson was the absolute model of consistency, only one finishing outside the top 10. The quietly spoken, cool Swede finished with a 1,2,2,3 to wrap up her nation's first ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships medal since 2006.

"I sailed the best I ever sailed when I needed to. I was really nervous all the way through the race today. Tactically I feel like I have sailed well." Carlsson said.

The Great Britain team's haul of two gold medals and one bronze contribute substantially to their wresting the Nations Trophy, breaking the French monopoly on the team award for the first time since 2008.

Whilst Britain's SL16 catamaran winners Rupert White and Tom Britz had done enough by Thursday to win overall, in the RS:X Girls their compatriot Saskia Sills did what she needed to today to clinch her first world title at just her second ever international RS:X race series.

After bronze at the RS:X Youth Europeans earlier in the month, Sills came back from a nervous wobble in the penultimate race of the series, to win the title with a second place, finishing just behind Israel's silver medal winner Naomi Cohen.

" I am so chuffed, I can't believe it." Smiled Sills who only started in the RS:X late last year, " I have not been on the water as much as I would have liked for the last three months because I have had exams, and so I have just been working hard in the gym. I did not expect to even medal. My first RS:X international event was only last week."

" We have had videos from the Olympic team, Nick Dempsey and Paul Goodison, and all the support team around us have been encouraging us to start this Olympic summer with medals and here we are."

Sills has been largely dominant in the girls' RS:X fleet with four wins and three second places in her scoreline but Italian Mattia Camboni was relatively unknown to Korea's double Youth Worlds medallist Wonwoo Cho.

Though the Italian sailor returned ashore with a silver, it was a bittersweet result for him.

He needed only to beat the Korean today to steal the overall title from the RS:X sailor who has a gold from Zadar, Croatia last year and silver from 2010 in Istanbul.

Camboni was duly on target to do just that, with Cho well behind, until the first attempt at a race was abandoned due to a big windshift.

When Race 12 ran its full course, Cho finished third while Camboni could only manage fifth after a bad start.

"The first race was so shifty I went the wrong way and was very bad. I thought I had lost the title. But it was cancelled. But I cleared my mind. My mind is strong and I used my anger to get a good start. The second race was much lighter and that is what I like. This is the most difficult, more difficult than last year. I did not know the Italian guy but he is a great sailor. I can't believe I have won again." Said Cho.

The Italian girls Ilana Paternoster and Benedetta Disale, from Genoa, held on to their consistent scoreline in the difficult conditions to land the Girls 420 title. Australia's Carrie Smith and Ella Clark struggled in the early part of the difficult final race and took silver ahead of Britain's Annabel Vose and Kirstie Irwin in bronze.

"We cannot believe we are world champions, maybe this evening or tomorrow it will sink in. We never even expected to get in the top five, far less win. But we have worked hard for it. We could look back and see where the Australians were and knew we could do it." Said Paternoster.

ISAF Youth Worlds 2012

FINAL OVERALL RESULTS

Laser Radial (Boys)

1st - Mark Spearman (AUS) 125pts 2nd - Finn Lynch (IRL) 134pts 3rd - Herman Tomasgaard (NOR) 145pts

Laser Radial (Girls)

1st - Julia Carlasson (SWE) 58pts 2nd - Line Flemhost (NOR) 76pts 3rd- Cecilia Zorzi (ITA) 99pts

420 (Boys)

1st – David Charles/Alex Charles(ESP) 61pts 2nd - Guillaume Pirouelle/Valentin Sipan (FRA) 65pts 3rd - Pieter Goedhart/Lars Van Stekelenborg (NED) 66pts

420 (Girls)

1st - Ilaria Paternoster/Benedetta Disalle (ITA) 44pts 2nd - Carrie Smith/Ella Clark (AUS) 51pts 3rd- Annabel Vose/Kirstie Urwin (GBR) 57pts

29ers

1st - Carlos Robles/Florian Trittel (ESP) 21pts 2nd – Lucal Rual/Thomas Biton (FRA) 38pts 3rd – Klaus Lange/Mateo Majdalani(ARG) 47pts

SL16 Catamaran

1st –Rupert White/Tom Britz (GBR) 20pts 2nd - Paul Darmanin/Lucy Copeland (AUS) 40pts 3rd - Martin Manzoil Lowy/Kim Vidal (BRA) 42pts.

RSX Boys

1st – Wonwood Cho (KOR) 32pts 2nd- Matta Camboni ( ITA) 34pts 3rd - Maxime Labat (FRA) 67pts

RSX Girls

1st - Saskia Sills (GBR) 30pts 2nd - Naomi Cohen (ISR) 42pts 3rd - Veronic Fanciulli (ITA) 58pts

Nation's Medals for Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship 2012

Spain: Gold in the 29ers class; gold in the 420 boys class;

Great Britain: Bronze in the 420 girls class; gold in the SL16 class; gold in the RSX girls class.

France: Silver in the 420 boys class; silver in the 29er class; bronze in the RSX boys class.

The Netherlands: Bronze in the 420 boys class.

Italy: Gold in the 420 girls class; bronze in the laser radial girls class; bronze in the RSX girls class; silver in the RSX boys class.

Austrailia: Silver in the 420 girls class; silver in the SL16 class; gold in the laser radial boys class.

Argentina: Bronze in the 29er class.

Brazil: Bronze in the SL16 class.

Ireland: Silver in the boys laser radial class.

Norway: Bronze in the laser radial boys class; silver in the laser radial girls class

Sweden: Gold in the laser radial girls class.

Israel: Silver in the RSX girls class.

Korea: Gold in the RSX boys class.

#isafyw12 – Success for Ireland on home waters this afternoon as local young Laser Radial sailor Finn Lynch provided the most emotional finale to the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships on Dublin Bay when he clinched a silver medal, the best ever result for an Irish sailor or crew, since the championship was first run in Denmark in 1971.

In a fitting payback for the small Dun Laoghaire sailing community that staged the event the youngster eclipsed the hopes of all when he sailed home through the harbour mouth this afternoon with a silver medal in the bag, putting the icing on the cake for the whole Dublin Youth Worlds team.

Over the last three days Blessington's Lynch, who races for the National YC, sailed himself from eighth to third to finally secure second overall today on his home waters in the 58 boat fleet, arguably the toughest in the championship.

A ninth place finish in the last race, profiting when two of his nearest rivals slugged it out at the back of the fleet, match racing for gold, ensured Lynch had relatively free reign to sail his own race.

His result exceeds Ireland's previous high water mark, a third place which was achieved in 1996 in the Laser 2 class in Newport by Laura Dillon and Ciara Peelo, the year that Lynch was born.

At aged 16, in his first of three possible years at the under 19 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship, his silver medal marks him out as a substantial talent for the future.

Lynch is member of the Irish Sailing Academy and attributes some of his success here to the ongoing initiative to maximise training and racing opportunities in mainland Europe.

"It feels great. Simple as that." Said Lynch after he was carried from the water shoulder high in his boat by supporters and friends at the Royal St George YC. "I was pretty deep in the first part of the race today but had a good second stage and took places all the time."

"It was never really my goal to medal here, I just wanted to get a good result. I think the support here has really helped in the end. My coach Milan has been a great asset.

It was crazy being carried up the slipway. It was a bit of an anti-climax with the long sail home in light winds, that in the end was just fantastic."

I have trained so hard for this since February, including a month in Europe. There were ten of us doing a huge amount of training with the Irish Sailing Association Academy. That was great for my sailing. I have trained constantly this year. I want to qualify again for this for next year and maybe go one better, but then after that it's the Olympics."

Back in 2008 Event organiser Brian Craig told the Irish Times

"Our main objective is to get an Irish sailor on the podium in Dun Laoghaire'.

Back then securing the event was one thing and identifying young Irish sailing talent capable of such an achievement is another. However Lynch emerged as a credible force winning the trials in May and the right to represent to Ireland on home waters.

Craig's foresight and thinking four years ago though was that if Irish success can be produced on the bay in 2012 then it is a solid stepping stone for the Olympics in 2016.

"To be honest we are slightly stunned." Commented the Irish Sailing Association's Performance Director James O'Callaghan. "We have long since realised that Finn is a talent, but to achieve this is his first year at Youth Worlds is incredible."

"He is a great kid, very mature for his years. To give an insight into what this result represents Peter O'Leary who will be in the Star at the Olympics and won the last regatta at the Olympic venue before these upcoming Games, sailed at three Youth Worlds and finished mid 20's in his first year and progressed to sixth in his third year."

"And this so close to the Olympics is just great. All of the Olympic sailors in Weymouth have been following this."

#isafyw12 – Rather than simply pressing for ultimate consistency, as they entered the second half of the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships, sailors representing Ireland sought to push harder and take a few more risks, looking to finish the regatta on Friday with a clutch of single figure results in their scoreline.

In very varied conditions across the two races sailed today, they were largely rewarded, particularly in the Laser Radial class where Finn Lynch sailed to his best result of the regatta so far, with a third in the first race of the day. His best score was then matched neatly in the second race for the girls Radial class by Sophie Murphy.

While she paired her third to a solid 13th in the first race to lie 14th overall in the 42 boat fleet Lynch paid a heavy price in the second race when he was among the seven sailors disqualified for being over the start line early.

In fact Lynch was in good company, the US Sailing Team's Mitchell Kiss was disqualified for the same rules infringement in the first race, admitting later that he too was out to take a few more risks to try and ease further clear of the pack.

The Irish sailor arrived back at the dock in the Royal St George very disappointed, but objective. He was more frustrated at having proven himself so well in the first race and then losing the chance of a repeat performance in the second race, than the effect his DSQ had on his scoreline.

He effectively spends his discard but lies in an excellent eighth overall, still within striking distance – 11 points – of the medals with three races still scheduled to be completed.

Lynch reported: " I had a good first race, got up to third on the final downwind and so, overall, it was a pretty good result. As for the Black Flag it is not too much of a problem I have a good discard, better than most around me, and so it is not too bad really, it should not affect me too much."

" I think I have been pretty solid so far, now I need to start to get a few good results in, to get right up to the top. I don't feel like I have lost anything so far."

Winds continued to be frustrating on Dublin Bay. Though the first race was sailed in 11-14 kts there were big shifts in direction but for the second contest, it died away to four knots at times as ominous clouds rolled across the course area, finally bringing another downpour. But a light winds finish to the Championship are expected as high pressure is finally expected to bring sunshine as well. Lynch says he has no concerns in lighter conditions:

" I really don't look at the forecast too much. All I really need to be doing is thinking what's going to happen when I stand up in my boat two minutes before the start. That is the only time I need to worry or think about what's going to happen with the weather."

The young duo in the 420 boys class, Cork's Patrick Crosbie and Grattan Roberts lie 14th overall after a 19th and ninth today:

" We had a really bad start in the first race, on the line too early and could not accelerate." Recalled crew Roberts, " We have been disappointed with the first two days but we are getting better."

In the 29er class Alexander Rumball and Rory McStay are 10th in the 15 boat fleet which is lead by the British duo, world champions Rupert White and Tom Britz.

ISAF Youth Worlds 2012

DAY FOUR RESULTS (& OVERALL RESULTS)

Laser Radial (Boys)

1st - Mitchell Kiss (USA) 79pts 2nd - Marco Zani (ITA) 90pts 3rd - Mark Spearman (AUS) 92pts

Laser Radial (Girls)

1st - Julia Carlasson (SWE) 51pts 2nd - Maria Cristina Boabaid (BRA) 67pts 3rd- Line Flemhost (NOR) 68pts

420 (Boys)

1st – Guillaume Pirouelle/Valentin Sipan (FRA) 36pts 2nd - Pieter Goedhart/Lars Van Stekelenborg (NED) 36pts 3rd - David Charles/Alex Charles (ESP) 41pts

420 (Girls)

1st - Carrie Smith/Ellie Clark (AUS) 32pts 2nd - Illaria Paternoster/Benedetta Disalle (ITA) 35pts 3rd- Annabel Vose/Kirstie Urwin (GBR) 36pts

29ers

1st - Carlos Robles/Florian Trittel (ESP) 13pts 2nd – Lucal Rual/Thomas Biton (FRA) 15pts 3rd – Klaus Lange/Mateo Majdalani(ARG) 24pts

SL16 Catamaran

1st –Rupert White/Tom Britz (GBR) 16pts 2nd - Paul Darmanin/Lucy Copeland (AUS) 20pts 3rd - Henri Demesmaeker/Phillip Hendrickx (BEL) 28pts.

RSX Boys

1st – Wonwood Cho (KOR) 24pts 2nd- Matta Camboni ( ITA) 26pts 3rd - Michael Cheng (HKG) 49pts

RSX Girls

1st - Saskia Sills (GBR) 17pts 2nd - Naomi Cohen (ISR) 39pts 3rd - Anastasiva Valkevich (BLR

Irish – standings after DAY FOUR

Radial Boys

8th- Finn Lynch (IRL) - 113pts

Radial Girls

14th - Sophie Murphy (IRL) - 107pts

420 Boys

14th - Patrick Crosbie/Grattan Roberts (IRL) - 114pts

SL16

10th- Alexander Rumball/Rory McStay (IRL) - 75pts

29ers

11th- Sean Donnelly/Tadgh Donnelly (IRL) - 86pts