The final day of the 2019 RS:X World Championships being held in Torbole, Italy, looked to be heading out with a damp fizzle, but ended with a perfect finale for the medal races as the Ora finally decided to show up just before the time limit for the day.

With a full schedule planned for the morning, the 236 competitors and the race officials and volunteers turned up at the Circolo Surf Torbole in the dawn light as has been the norm this week. However the only difference this morning was that the normal northerly breeze had disappeared – Lake Garda was breathless in both its beauty as the sun rose but also in the amount of wind.

With fixed times for the races, the waiting game began and as the morning ticked over into the afternoon, fleets started to be cancelled. First it was the silver men and women fleets who were cancelled, causing cheers from certain countries as their qualification was confirmed with the race abandonment. Then came the gold fleets turn – again cancelled as the whispers of wind that could be seen on the horizon refused to come towards Torbole. Again cheers went up as more countries found that their ticket to Tokyo had been booked.

For the medal race contenders, their was mixed emotions amongst the ten men and ten women. Race and have a chance of getting a medal or upgrading the medal. Don’t race and get to protect the medal that was already halfway around their necks. Would the wind fill in before the 1600 CET deadline?

It did. Slowly at first. But it built gradually and by 1500 CET, the womens fleet were on the medal race course ready to race in a light 8-10 knot breeze. China’s Yunxiu Lu was relatively comfortable with her lead with the real battle between silver and bronze, between Lilian de Geus and Katy Spychakov. Just two points or one board separated reigning World and European champion de Geus and the relative new-comer Spychakov.

Russian Stefania Elfutina won the race and was followed by Poland’s Zofia Noceti-Klepacka in second and then Spychakov in third. Down the last reach to the finish line, Spychakov could be seen looking over her shoulder, trying to figure out where de Geus was. Fourth place crossed. Fifth place crossed with Lu. And then de Geus crossed in sixth place. Spychakov had done enough to elevate herself to silver and resign de Geus to bronze. Lu had done enough to keep her first place and is the 2019 RS:X World Champion.

Spychakov on her medal race experience, “I wasn’t too nervous before the race, I thought I would be more nervous but it was fun. I lost the youth world championship here in 2017 so this is a really good feeling for me. We have such a good group of three girls in Israel, we have been together since 1999 and we are such good friends and push each other all the way.”

With Hong Kong, Brazil, Peru, Finland, Mexico, Hungary and Turkey already having qualified this week, it was in the silver fleet for the women that the final two spots would be allocated. Without any races, it was the United States and Thailand who were worthy recipients of the final two spots for Tokyo 2020.

For the men’s medal race, the wind had increased slightly and again the battle would be to see whether reigning World champion (and double Olympic champion) could get the better of Frenchman Pierre le Coq and carry on the tradition of standing on the top two steps of the podium at major RS:X Class championships. The battle for silver and bronze was on!

With three laps in the race, van Rijsselberghe led the race off the start line and never really looked back. Van Rijsselberghe looks most comfortable at the front of the fleet and this was no exception as he incrementally extended his lead on each lap. Behind, eyes were on Pierre le Coq to see where he would round each mark. After the first lap he was in sixth place – silver was just out of his grasp but he was close and could make it up. At the end of the second lap he was just behind teammate Thomas Goyard – but when it comes to medal racing there is no such thing as “teammates” and Goyard was looking to place as high as possible himself and fought to keep le Coq behind him. At the end of the third lap, le Coq had dropped to seventh and van Rijsselberghe had done enough by winning to win the silver medal.

Badloe pretty much cruised his medal race, knowing he had a big buffer in terms of points to be able to relax and just sail fast, which he did and finished in fifth knowing he had the world title comfortably in the bag. Badloe and van Rijsselberghe were in the reverse positions at the 2018 world championships and these two friends are happy to be on the podium together in any position – these two good friends like giving and taking with each other.

Badloe on the medal race, “No nerves today, there was just a bit more at stake today but I had to keep in mind that the points were super close and to keep on eye on everyone else. I just tried to put everyone else out of my mind and go fast. It’s a little different to last year with Dorian and I going differently to last year. It shows what we are doing works and we are having a solid program.”

The gold fleet of the RS:X had more countries than qualification spots and the fight for the 8 spots had been going on over the past two days of finals racing. With todays cancellation of racing, the final standings showed that the following countries had provisionally booked their tickets to Tokyo; Korea, Hong Kong, Belarus, Switzerland, Lithuania, United States, Cyprus and Czech Republic.

These World Championships were the final major event of the RS:X Class for 2019 with attention firmly now focused on Tokyo 2020 and all of the remaining qualification events where countries can get their tickets to Tokyo. The 2020 World Championships are in New Zealand in February, one of the last true barometers of performance for the sailors before heading to Japan.

Finally, the RS:X Class would like to thank everyone at the Circolo Surf Torbole, the volunteers, the officials and the supporters of the class that have made the 2019 RS:X World Championships so special for everyone involved. 2019 has seen such spectacular events for the class and all of the sailors deserve a well earned break before the battles begin again in the new year!

Text – RS:X Class

Images – Robert Hajduk

Website – www.rsxclass.org/worlds2019

Pictures: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/pictures/?album=5625
Videos: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/videos/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS

The penultimate day of the 2019 RS:X World Championships fizzled out amongst expectations of strong winds that simply failed to show up to the party today. For the 236 competitors from 47 nations, this was the last chance before the medal races to set a marker down, to climb the scoreboard, to protect their position or just to make amends and prove a point from a poor start to the event.

Instead the day was another long slow wait for wind once the early morning breeze had died away. Some sailors went for an ice cream in some of Torboles excellent ice cream palours while others took the time to sunbathe on the grass at the Circolo Surf Torbole. Either way, waiting for wind is something sailors seem to excel at.

The women were the first in line to race today and, with another early start, were sent off to race in the northerly Peller breeze. Over the past few days it looked as though the world championship was following the “script” of Lilian De Geus from the Netherlands, who is looking to retain her title. And this was reinforced when De Geus went out to win the first race of the day and then take second place in the next. All the time, her medal contenders were scoring some big results and taking little falls down the leaderboard. Giorgia Speciale scored a 35^th in the second race of the day and tumbled down the leader board to sit 5^th overall having started the day in 2^nd.

However China’s Yunxiu Lu hadn’t read the script and won the last race of the day. This combined with De Geus ending the day with a 23^rd place, sees these two sailors swap places with De Geus having to surrender her leaders bid to Lu. Not only did De Geus have to hand over the lead, she also handed over a six point advantage to Lu going into tomorrows double points Medal Race. This means that De Geus has to have at least four boards between herself and Lu as they finish the medal race tomorrow.

Another winner from todays racing was Katy Spychakov from Israel who is in third place having scored 13, 5, 4 today and is just two points behind De Geus. Spychakov also has more than one hand on the Under 21 trophy too, but without doubt her mind will be on the potential of a world championship medal and will be aiming to beat De Geus to silver.

Another medal race participant is Stefania Elfutina from Russia who is in seventh place overall and whilst out of the medals, has been pleased with her progress this week in such a big fleet. Elfutina on this week, “Today was nice to wake up early, I was feeling really good this morning when I woke up at six o’clock. I was sure it was going to be a good day for me. The starts here are totally different to the Test event, if you don’t do a good start it is like sailing behind a wall. I think Torbole is the only place where we can hold a competition of this size and it is insanely beautiful. My target is for top eight in the medal race tomorrow for me to qualify for Russia to go to Tokyo”.

The battle for the final remaining two qualification spots has also been raging away in the silver fleet of the women. Farrah Hall from the United States and Siripon Kaewduang-Hgam from Thailand currently occupy the front two seats for qualification but are being chased by Veerle Ten Have from New Zealand and Gelly Skaraltou from Greece. The points in this battle are extremely close and with a fleet of 53 boats, it will be easy to pick up a big score tomorrow and scupper any chances of country qualification. With only one race for the silver fleet tomorrow, it is like a second medal race for those countries.

The race committee decided that, instead of waiting till the afternoon for the southerly Ora to materialize having learnt yesterday that this is not a reliable wind in September, the men’s fleets were going to be sent out immediately and were off to race in the remains of the mornings northerly wind.

In a light 6-8 knots, it was Piotr Myszka from Poland who powered his way around the course to take the race win. However Myszka was followed closely by the dynamic Dutch duo of Van Rijsselberghe and Badloe who came in second and third respectively. Frenchman Pierre Le Coq, who led the qualifying series, came home in sixth place and sat in second overall.

Where the first race was held in a light breeze, the wind was dropping and becoming more erratic and unstable. Despite several attempts to start a race, it became futile and the fleet were sent to shore to wait in hope for the southerly Ora to materialize. At 1730 CET, time ran out and the race committee signaled no more racing today. For some sailors this signaled relief in that their position was safe going into the final day – for others it signaled disappointment at not getting the chance to try and move up the leader board.

At the end of the day it is Kieran Badloe who goes into the medal race with a five point buffer over Le Coq who in turn holds a ten point buffer over Van Rijsselberghe in third place. An outside chance of a medal is veteran Byron Kokkalanis from Greece who is twelve points behind Van Rijsselberghe. It is these four sailors who have the opportunity of a medal tomorrow and the racing will be thrilling to watch.

In the qualification battle, Korea’s Wonwoo Cho has secured his country a place in Tokyo by way of his participation in the medal race. Further down the field Hong Kong, Switzerland, Belarus and Lithuania look safe in their qualification. That leaves a further three spots open and the final gold fleet race will determine which countries fill those spots. In the running are the United States, Russia, Turkey, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

The first races are scheduled to take place from 0800 CET and are able to be followed via tracking on the RS:X event website.

Text – RS:X Class

Images – Robert Hajduk

Website – www.rsxclass.org/worlds2019

Pictures: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/pictures/?album=5625
Videos: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/videos/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS

The 2019 RS:X World Championships being held in Torbole, Italy, rolled into the third day with a fair amount of optimism from the 236 sailors from 47 nations. Optimism for another day of shifty northerly Peller wind in the morning followed by an afternoon of pumping southerly Ora wind in the afternoon. Optimism that even the early morning starts were seeming to become normal for the fleets that were unlucky enough to get called out to the race course in the dawn light.

However, Lake Garda and the surrounding mountains decided to throw another curve ball into the mix, a curve ball which even managed to stump the experienced local race committee volunteers. So as the first day of gold fleet racing was getting setup, the optimism continued but without knowing what was waiting around the corner.

The men’s fleet were up first this morning with an 0830 start under the normal northerly Peller wind, which was blowing at a consistent 14-16 knots. Without much fuss, except for the single general recall, the race committee seemed to chew through the three races for the men’s gold fleet and silver fleet.

Without much fuss until scrutiny is applied to the results that is. Race one saw the blue jersey of Kiran Badloe (NED) and red jersey of Piotr Myszka (POL) no where to be seen at the finish line as the fleet started to roll in. In third place however was Frenchman Pierre Le Coq, scoring another top three finish – his fifth out of the seven races at that time. Myszka crossed deep in the pack in 24^th place and Badloe a hugely uncharacteristic 34^th place. Would this be the day that a shuffle could be on the cards for the fleet?

With race two, it seemed as though the Dutch duo of Badloe and Dorian Van Rijsselberghe had lit their afterburners. Van Rijsselberghe took the win in the second race with Badloe in second before swapping for the third and final race of the day. This was enough to squeeze Badloe into the overall lead overnight, a tiny two point buffer over Le Coq in second place. Van Rijsselberghe has pulled himself up to third overall but still has work to do if he is to retain his world champion title on Saturday – Van Rijsselberghe is 16 points behind Badloe and has one day left to close this gap.

The casualties of the day included Myszka who slipped from third to sixth and Tom Squires (GBR) who fell down to eleventh having started the day in the top five. Thomas Goyard (FRA) is in fifth and commented on the day, “We had some strong winds today – about 15-20 knots maybe. I did pretty ok, I guess I could do better but everyone is making mistakes. Everything is in play for tomorrow for the medal race. I like both north wind because its nice and tricky but also the south wind because its blasting at full power and the scenery here is amazing too.”

Goyard came third to Van Rijsselberghe and Badloe at the RS:X Europeans in Palma earlier in the year. On how to beat the Dutchmen, “They are tough to beat, Kieran had a back injury at the test event in Enoshima and Dorian had an arm injury so they are really really good and I am impressed with both of them. We have one more day to go and I am confident – they are touchable but I will have to work hard.”

The women were scheduled to start at 1400 CET, a delay to allow the predicted southerly Ora to develop before racing would commence. And this is where the curve ball came in. The Ora seemed to have been told different instructions and the gentle southerly breeze which over the past two days has developed into the Ora, puffed and panted gently over the lake but never fully stabilized.

Finally at 1600 the women were released into a light and patchy 5 knot breeze – not quite what they were expecting at all. Finally at 1740 the women’s gold fleet finally did get away, the sun had long set behind the mountains and where the racing had started at dawn, it would finish at dusk. The wind was patchy and light still but was stable enough to produce a fair race.

It was Ingrid Puusta (EST) who managed to get herself to the top mark first and continued to lead around the course. Looking back through the fleet, overnight leader Lilian de Geus (NED) was buried deep in the pack but working hard to make up places. Chasing Puusta was Katy Spychakov (ISR) and Piena Chen (CHN). Italian sailor Giorgia Speciale was in fourth and looking to move herself up the leader board.

Puusta managed to hold on for a convincing win with Spychakov in second and Chen in third. Overall De Geus retains her lead despite finishing 20^th in the race. Giorgia Speciale moves up to second overall with Spychakov in third. Speciale and Spychakov are also 1^st and 2^nd respectively in the Under 21 fleet and they have a firm grip on the gold and silver medals in this category at the moment. Is this the time for the Under 21’s to show the seniors who are the new kids on the block?

Puusta on her win today, “Today couldn’t of gone any better for me. I got my first win in a world championships so I am really happy. I had a tough day yesterday so this boosts me up the rankings by seven places. I am still the only female RS:X windsurfer in Estonia but we have lots of windsurfing classes in Estonia and I am hoping more youngsters will take up windsurfing in Estonia.”

Racing enters its penultimate day on Friday with three races scheduled for both the men and women. The women’s fleet are up first with a scheduled start time of 0800 CET and the men’s fleet are scheduled for 1030 CET. Racing can be tracked live online via the RS:X website. Racing will focus on the top ten getting into the medal race but we will also know more about the battles for Olympic qualification.

 

Text – RS:X Class
Images – Robert Hajduk

Event Website – www.rsxclass.org/worlds2019

Pictures: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/pictures/?album=5625
Videos: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/videos/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS

Day 2 of the 2019 RS:X World Championships being held in Torbole, Italy, saw the all important split of the fleets as the racing moved from qualifying series into the final series of racing. For many of the 236 competitors from 47 nations, today was going to be a day where dreams could be made or broken. The day to put your body on the line to make sure you ended up on the right side of the split, in the right fleet, on the right side of the track.

Why was this important? Because with 8 countries in the men’s fleet seeking Olympic qualification and 9 countries in the women’s fleet, today could be the day where you could secure your country a spot at the biggest party of the four year cycle – the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

It was the turn of the women’s fleet to get out of bed early with an 0815 scheduled start this morning. However the forecast for the day was for unpredictable, unstable winds which led the race committee to be cautious in their planning for the racing. Two races for the women followed promptly by two races for the men, hoping to get these in whilst the northerly wind lasted.

The northerly breeze was in good form with a shifty 12-15 knots on the race course for full planning conditions. As you would expect from such a mountainous venue, as the wind started to drop it created big holes and big shifts, making for some very tactical racing in the big fleets where places could be won and lost in the blink of an eye. These four races were rattled off before the wind started to fade towards the end of the last men’s fleet race.

Then the waiting began. And the waiting carried on through lunch as Lake Garda looked flatter and flatter before the whispers of the southerly breeze came in. Within 30 minutes a solid ten knots had built and the race committee scrambled to the water to get the final women’s race and final men’s race in for the day. By the time the women had left the beach it was a solid 15 knots with gusts of 18 knots – perfect windsurfing conditions to show the RS:X at maximum performance.

At the end of the qualifying series, it is reigning world champion Lilian De Geus from the Netherlands who had the best day scoring 2, 1, 7 and leads overall with 19 points overall. China’s Yunxiu Lu also had a solid day scoring 4, 3, 4 to move up into second place overall. Third place overall is held by overnight leader Marta Maggetti from Italy.

De Geus talked about the racing today, “It was a fun day with some really good conditions on the water. I was happy with my day and it was fun racing against the girls. I had some bad starts today and I need to get used to this big fleet racing and I have been trying to catch up most of the races. But its fun racing with so many girls.”

De Geus learnt to windsurf in Torbole with her family as a 12 year old, “I really like this place so I was looking forward to coming back here with lots of history. As I am sailing around I am thinking about all of the time I sailed here with my brothers and sisters so its really nice venue for me.”

Further down the fleet, the key number in the women’s fleet was 53. This is the position of the last female sailor that could get into gold fleet. That honour went to Megumi Komine of Japan, with New Zealander Veerle Ten Have agonisingly on the other side of the tracks in 54^th place and in silver fleet. Ten Have however will be comforted that she is in pole position at the top of the silver fleet and in the best place to defend he claim to one of the two remaining qualification spots open for the women at this event.

Peruvian sailor Maria-Belen Bazo ended the day in 18^th place overall and is provisionally qualified for Tokyo 2020 as there are seven nations in gold fleet, meaning that Bazo cannot lose her place. Bazo on todays performance, “It was a really long day, I woke up at 6.00am to race in the strong Peller wind before waiting around for another race in the strong Ora wind in the afternoon, I had good results so I am really happy. I will be the first Peruvian to go to the Olympics in windsurfing which will be amazing. My father is a surfer and in my club there was no surfing so I picked windsurfing as it was the most similar.”

The nations that have provisionally qualified for Tokyo 2020 are; Hong Kong, Brazil, Peru, Finland, Mexico, Hungry and Turkey.

For the men, it is Pierre le Coq from France who has retained the lead position going into gold fleet scoring an impressive 1, 1, 2 from the day. Dutchman Kiran Badloe scored an improving 4, 2, 1 to sit comfortably in second place, just two points behind Le Coq. The battle for third place overall is led by Poland’s Piotr Myszka with Tom Squires (Great Britain), Kun Bi (China) and Byron Kokkalanis (Greece) all very close on overall points.

Le Coq on todays racing, “The racing was very exciting, we did two races with the north wind which was really hard and very tactical but I had a really good results winning both races. Then we had the typical south wind this afternoon where I came second so a very good day for me. Windsurfing in Torbole is paradise with perfect conditions and amazing scenery.”

Le Coq is one of a trio of Frenchmen who have won a number of different RS:X titles over the past couple of years with Thomas Goyard and Louis Giard pushing Le Coq for the place in Tokyo representing France. Le Coq, “The qualification for us will be very hard and tough. This starts next year with the RS:X Worlds in Auckland and its good we can push each other lots.”

The Olympic qualification battles for the men are far from clear cut when compared to the women. There are 13 different nations in the gold fleet – but they are all after 8 qualification spots so the fight continues. The countries who could qualify are; Korea, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Belarus, Lithuania, Cyprus, United States, Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Czech Republic, Mexico and Malta.

Jouzas Bernotas from Lithuania is in 26^th overall and is the fifth nation in order of ranking of countries looking to qualify. Bernotas on todays racing, “I really enjoyed it, it was windy which I like so it was a good couple of days for me. I will just keep trying my best each day and hope I can do good enough to qualify for Tokyo.”

With the fleets split into gold and silver, racing on Thursday and Friday will move into the finals series. The racing will be as intense but for certain sailors and countries, the next two days will have an extra edge of urgency to them. Towards the top, it will be the scramble to get into the medal race for Saturday. For others it will be about making sure they are high enough up the leader board to get their country and maybe themselves to Tokyo.

Racing for the men is scheduled from 0830 CET and for the women not before 1400 CET. Racing can be followed on live tracking which cane be accessed from the RS:X World Championship website.

Text – RS:X Class

Images – Robert Hajduk

Website – www.rsxclass.org/worlds2019

Pictures: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/pictures/?album=5625
Videos: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/videos/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS

Day 1 of the 2019 RS:X World Championships dawned – quite literally – upon the 236 competitors who were eager to start their championship campaigns this morning. It was a day full of comparisons; good versus bad, left versus right, up versus down and in the end, north versus south. Lake Garda and Torbole served up a traditional local dish which the club race committee had already predicted yesterday and shuffled the schedule to accommodate the winds for today.

What many didn’t appreciate was that to make the most of the mornings early northerly wind, it would mean an 0800 start. What that meant in reality was that sailors were shuffling into the Circolo Surf Torbole at 0630 like zombies this morning rather than honed athletes hungry to win a world title.

However, what waited on the lake was every bit worth the early start as the men’s fleet arrived at the race-course to find a consistent 16-20 knots from the north and some of the best opening conditions to a championship the class have experienced for some time, even if a little chilly at 0800 in the morning.

Making the most of the conditions was Pierre Le Coq from France who took the race win in the opening race of the day and then followed this up with a 4^th and a 5^th and sits two points ahead of Dutchman Kiran Badloe who is a further two points ahead of Britain’s Tom Squires. China’s Kun Bi is in fourth just one point back from third placed Squires and it is these top four sailors that sailed the most consistently and didn’t score results outside of the top ten.

Squires, “I had a pretty fun day today actually. It was breezy this morning, I was rigging up in the dark but we got the best of the breeze which made it worth it. These world championships are super important and statistically doing well here puts you in good stead for the Olympics next year. The fleet is huge this year which makes the racing super tight and a little crazy but I’m loving the challenge.”

Byron Kokkalanis from Greece sits in 9^th place overall and had two good results before a little mishap in the 2^nd race, ending the day with 3, 21, 2. Kokkalanis on the racing today, “It was a good day for me. Conditions were very nice, pretty shifty and gusty but very nice. It is very hard to have a good start with so many guys on the start line. Experience definitely helps with such big starts so I am happy to have this experience. I don’t like early mornings but this morning was crazy, rigging in the dark. After 20 years with the RS:X, this is definitely the earliest I have ever raced. I am looking forward to a lie in tomorrow.”

Double Olympic medallist, Dorian van Rijsselberghe sits down in an uncharacteristic 13^th overall having scored 3, 29, 3 from todays races. However, van Rijsselberghe will shoot up the leader board when he drops his 29^th place tomorrow – the rest of the fleet knowing you can never write off the Dutchman when the big moments come around.

Of the countries looking for Olympic qualification, at this stage, the top three countries in the running are Hong Kong, United States and Korea. A solid first day does no harm, and the leading sailors from these countries will be looking to keep up the pressure on the other nations such as Belarus, Switzerland and Lithuania.

For the women, just as they were preparing to launch the race committee started to lose faith in the northerly breeze and decided to wait ashore for the southerly breeze to develop. As the day warmed up (it was only 1000 when the men came back ashore in time for breakfast…), the southerly wind started to develop and by 1430, the women were afloat and heading to the race-course in a light but building breeze.

And it was very much worth the wait. Conditions for the third and final race of day 1 was in full planning conditions as the Ora wind from the south kicked in. Italian Marta Maggetti is in pole position after day 1 and leads with 13 points overall after posting 1, 10, 2 for the day. There are three girls behind her tied on 16 points in the shape of Emma Wilson (Great Britain), Zofia Noceti-Klepacka (Poland) and Maya Morris (Israel) with another five points going back to Saskia Sills in ninth place overall on 21 points overall. This is a very competitive fleet.

Emma Wilson, “We had three races in a building wind. I had two really good starts and the third one not so much. You have to keep going around people because there are so many people, but that’s really cool having so many girls out here. You have to be a bit more conservative in the big fleet and avoid getting people between you. I am not a morning person at all, I have started drinking coffee this week!!”

Katy Spychakov sits in seventh overall and commented on today’s racing, “Today was a little bit tricky, we were waiting for the Ora wind and when it arrived it was shifting and it was hard to see what was coming. The first two races I made some good decisions but the Ora properly kicked in and I didn’t have such a good race in the last race and I fell in. Its so much harder in such a big fleet, I was racing in Japan in a small fleet of 23 girls so it’s very different racing. In Japan you can chose your spot on the line and plan a bit more, here you can have girls around you very quickly. I used to do triathlon as a child so I am used to getting up really early so am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Brazil, Finland and Hong Kong all made strong bids for Olympic qualification today with Peruvian sailor Maria-Belen Bazo also showing strongly on the first day to sit in 17^th overall. Wednesday is the last day of qualifying series racing when the fleets will be split into Gold and Silver fleets – getting into Gold fleet may guarantee qualification if rival countries are stuck in Silver fleet. The first countries could be announced tomorrow.

There are another three races scheduled for Wednesday, with all sailors being required to carry trackers so that the racing can be followed online via the RS:X Class website.

Text – RS:X Class

Images – Robert Hajduk

Website – www.rsxclass.org/worlds2019

Pictures: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/pictures/?album=5625
Videos: http://www.rsxclass.org/media/videos/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS

After the World Sailing 2019 Mid-Year meeting the RS:X Class addressed the following letter on June 18th, 2019 to the World Sailing Council members and to the Member National Authorities (MNAs).

***

Since the World Sailing Mid-Year conference in London, England, and the publishing of the NEW “Re-evaluation Board Recommendation to Council dated 11.06.2019”the RS:X Class would like to respond to comments made during the conference by providing facts which it is hoped will aid World Sailings deliberations for the future.

SURVEY (encl. below): A very important point is that the RS:X Class is not voiced by individuals at meetings, nor is it represented by any one country or any one sailors’ view. The RS:X Class has had 65 different countries represented at its events since Rio 2016 and it is not appropriate for one sailor or one country to speak on behalf of the whole class, this is their personal opinion only and is not the opinion of the whole RS:X Class or every sailor.

To provide World Sailing with accurate information, the RS:X Class have taken the initiative to survey as many of its sailors and coaches as possible to see what they want the future of windsurfing to look like. This is important for the class as these are the sailors that have paid and invested into the class and the sport with their time and money. This investment should be acknowledged and respected when making decisions.

The results of this survey highlight that there is a desire to change, but that to change for 2024 is too soon for most of the sailors, especially the smaller countries where their investments are much more important in terms of participation. The survey results show that more than 50% of the class do not want change and would like the RS:X to be the equipment for the Windsurfing events in 2024 with 60% of respondents preferring windsurfing in 2024 to be non-foiling. When asked what they would like for 2028, 55% said that this should be foiling windsurfing. The results of this survey are shown at the end of this letter.

The survey results support the view that change should happen but that it needs to be managed over a longer period of time to minimise the drop off effect on the sport. Both World Sailing and the RS:X Class have a responsibility towards the health and sustainability of the sport in the longer term. Managing a transitional change of equipment over two Olympic cycles allows for MNA’s and sailors to plan longer term, make the best use of their resources and to work with World Sailing over a longer period.

RISKS OF DROP OFF IN PARTECIPATION: When looking at this drop off effect, the decisions that World Sailing make have a significant impact on the wider sport, especially at the disciplines which are most accessible such as the Laser and RS:X. In 2010 and 2011 there were 394 boards and 451 boards sold by NeilPryde in those respective years. In 2012, following the decision of World Sailing to replace Windsurfing with Kiteboarding, there was a huge drop off in participation (evidenced by sales records and event numbers) such that the RS:X Class has struggled to get back to similar levels of participation.

LACK OF STABILITY:It is this lack of stability that is affecting both the RS:X Class and Windsurfing right now. Sailors are currently not buying equipment because they don’t know what their future looks like.

Also, the World Sailing Council were told that the RS:X Class was not growing and therefore this was a prominent reason for change. Since 2012, the whole windsurfing community has suffered from the decisions to exclude and then re-include windsurfing. To grow any element of a sport; a country, a sailor a national authority, needs confidence in the longevity of their investment. This is especially true when dealing with the “universality” of a class. Windsurfing has suffered by not knowing its future, both in terms of an event and equipment. This uncertainty has not permitted growth as a smaller country that would look to invest its precious resources, would not invest in the RS:X Class for such a limited time and without knowing the security of their investment.

2019 REGATTAS:However, at the recent European and Youth European Championships in Mallorca, Spain, the RS:X Class succeed to have 333 sailors from 41 countries and 6 continents. This is coupled with over 300 sailors at the Techno 293 World Championships in 2018 and highlights that the sport of windsurfing is still recovering and needs the support to continue to grow.

IMPACT ON CLASS ACTIVITY:Currently, sailors are not buying equipment because they don’t know what to invest in. The decisions of World Sailing at the Mid-Year meeting are an example of how difficult it is to promote the sport to new countries, initiate growth, when equipment is chopped and changed so regularly. Data from NeilPryde has shown that every time the World Sailing Council makes, or doesn’t make, a decision on windsurfing events and equipment, it effects the whole class and ripples wider into the sport of windsurfing.

TIMING FOR CHANGES:The RS:X Class do not wish to work against World Sailing, its members or the support of growth in windsurfing or the wider sport of sailing – it will remain committed to promoting all that is great within sailing. But the sport needs stability through thoughtful decision making which is based on facts not emotion. The RS:X Class request that it is supported in managing the change through to 2028 for the betterment of World Sailing, its MNAs and windsurfers throughout the world.

The important criteria seems to be missing in the process described in the “Re-evaluation Board Recommendation to Council dated 11.06.2019” as well as the time table .

The RSX Class is fully aware of the magnitude of the challenge to launch a totally new class based on new equipment and meet the requirements of all the Olympic family in time to commence the qualification cycle and event program that culminates in a successful 2024 Olympic Regatta.

In our opinion based on what we know today, the only practical decision is to continue with the RSX for 2024 and transit to new equipment for 2028.

The RSX Class organization is the only Class structure which could today take on this project .

***

This letter is sent to the World Sailing Council members and the MNAs only as the RS:X Class feel that some members have spoken on behalf of the sport of windsurfing and the RS:X Class without appropriate consultation of the members.

Do not hesitate to contact us should you need any further clarification or documentation on the above from the International RS: X Class Association.

Sincerely yours,

Carlo Dalla Vedova
President The International RS:X Class Association

 

Encl.1 - RS:X CLASS SURVEY

Two world champions were decided today on Neva Bay, St Petersburg in what turned out to be a dramatic conclusion to the RS:X Youth World Championship. Champions were Russian Yena Reznikova and Israeli Eval Zhor.

On the final day of the championship, a wind of 5-6 knots allowed for the full schedule of races to be delivered, with thanks to the skills of the race officers and their teams. After a short pause due to the lack of the wind, there was sufficient wind to allow the days battles to take place where the medals and titles were at stake.

The girls medal race started first and Russian Yana Reznikova from Moscow had to come first, hoping that her rival, Pianazza from France would make a mistake and finish third if not fourth or fifth. The battle for gold was going to be extremely close.

In the medal race, it was destined that both Pianazza and Reznikova would keep a close eye on each other. Neither could avoid losing touch of each other to keep their hands on gold. The rivals went one direction from the very start, but the Russian woman was more successful than the Frenchwoman, with Reznikova coming to the first mark first and became a leader.

The race between Pianazza and Reznikova raged back and forth throughout the race and Reznikova was supported by her compatriot Schedrina who moved up the rankings to separate the leading Russian and Pianazza. Reznikova won the medal race and the world title where Pianazza, who had led for large parts of the week, had to settle for silver. Naama Greenberg from Israel took bronze. A Russian racer Anastasia Shchedrina took advantage of the battle upfront to finish the medal race second and fifth overall for the championship.

Reznikova won the championship by 26 points. This result brought her the championship. Pianazza was three points behind the Russian racer and took second place. Israeli Naama Greenberg finished third (45 points). On the fourth line is her compatriot Linoy Geva (55), and on the fifth is another Russian (79).

“The most difficult thing is to wait ashore.,” says the world champion Yana Reznikova. “Because it is very difficult - not to overthink, not to ruminate about the racing. But finally, I pulled myself together. We got the flag raised, we moved to the water. Everything happened very quickly, the judges started. My strongest rival in the medal race was Anastasia Shchedrina. We went with her through this race better than anyone and finished first and second. So we competed only with each other. This is my first championship. Plus, it took place practically in my hometown, in which I constantly train. It’s great. Both the organization and the atmosphere - everything was on the highest level.

“I didn’t restrain anyone, I just tried to watch the whole fleet, to control everyone. The hardest thing was to pull ourselves together,” says Anastasia Shchedrina. “We sat in the chill-out zone for a very long time. It was very difficult to keep that mood, so I just relaxed. The medal race was incredible.”

In the medal race among men, there is a similar situation. From the very first mark, the Israelis - Eyal Yohay Zror and Daniel Basik Tashtash - took the lead and moved close to each other on each mark. Until the finish line, the best friends would move clear of their rivals. It was they who competed for gold with each other. In this struggle, Zror turned out to be more successful, and he finished first and won the championship. His teammate - Tashtash - became the second in the medal race and in the overall ranking. The most fierce struggling was for the bronze medal. Israeli Ruven Hillel surpassed Greek Alexandros Kalpogiannakis only with one point.

“We are used to competing with each other, so it’s not so difficult,” says Daniel Tashtash, the silver medalist at the World Cup. - We communicate before the races and enjoy the victories of our teammates. Each of us had a plan to do his best. We did not use any team tactics - everyone was for himself. During the race, I did not think about friendship with Eyal at all. The Israelis are the best windsurfers in the world. We train with each other, so it’s not so difficult for us in the races.

The RS:X Class would like to thank St Petersburg Yacht Club, its sponsors, the officials and volunteers for organizing such a successful and professionally run Youth World Championship. The RS:X Class next moves to Torbole, Italy for its World Championships where Olympic qualification spots will also be decided.

The 2019 AGM of the International RS:X Windsurfing Class Association will be staged during the 2019 RS:X Windsurfing World Championships in Torbole, Italy

Date: Sunday, September 22nd, 2019
Place: Circolo Surf Torbole, Torbole, Italy
Starting time: 14:00

Read more here: http://www.rsxclass.org/2019-international-rsx-class-annual-general-meeting-agm-notice/

 

The penultimate day of the RS:X Youth World Championships being held on Neva Bay in St Petersburg set everything up a nail-biting finale tomorrow. Four days ago when the championship started, there were 104 competitors from 19 different nations who were aspiring to stand on the podium tomorrow – that field of contenders has been narrowed down significantly after four days of intense and exciting racing in St Petersburg.

At the start of the day, St. Petersburg prepared another challenge for the participants in the championship in the form of a weak wind from 4 to 6 knots. Racing in such wind conditions is a real art – not as graceful as a ballerina – but with an equal amount of strength and balance required. The ability to take starts correctly and move in the right direction comes to the forefront. The cost of error in light and fitful winds can be medal losing.

“The direction of the wind was unstable – from the north-east and north to north-west,” said the race officer for the competition Vladimir Komel. “The girls entered the race only from the third start. Fortunately, the strength of the wind increased, and we had three races. The men had to rack their brains over tactics and work with the sea current. In general, the day was successful and fruitful.”

In addition to weather conditions, windsurfers had to cope with their nervousness and there were also 18 protests on the water. “The protest activity has increased because tomorrow there will be a medal race for men and women. Everyone is trying hard to get into the top ten. Today they had the last opportunity to do this,” says Sergey Kuzovov, a member of the International Jury. “Sailing is like driving on a high-way where cars must be driven according to certain rules. Windsurfers also move in different directions and should diverge from each other. Our task is to find out all the details and understand who was right in the conflict. If someone has broken the rules, we will disqualify him or her.”

In the boys gold fleet, those who balanced their nerves, the weather and got the tactics right were the Israelis. Eyal Yohay Zror takes the lead going into the medal race with 23 points with his compatriots Daniel Basik Tashtash and Ruven Hillel – 25 and 27 points respectively. A little further back but still contenders for a medal are Greek Alexandros Kalpogiannakis and Frenchman Fabien Pianazza.

The medal race tomorrow will be a real battle of tactics as no-one is guaranteed a medal and if Zror has a bad day he could walk away with nothing from these championships having led the fleet for three days of racing. The reverse is that of Pianazza who ended the first day in 28^th place and now sits fifth and a potential contender for a medal and could at a very outside chance still get gold.

“The number of protests can be explained by the fact that all the racers are very good,” says Israeli Daniel Basik Tashtash. “Everyone makes small mistakes, but in combination with the same mistakes of the other racers, this transforms into the protests. My teammate, Eyal, has almost as many points as I do. On the shore, we are the best friends with him, but on the water, each of us is for himself. I will try my best to win.”

Among the girls on Friday, the best sailor racer today was Yana Reznikova from Moscow. She came first twice and very quickly moved from the fourth position to the second. In the women’s ranking, she is the second only to the Frenchwoman Manon Pianazza. Pianazza has been the most consistent racer at these championships and whilst she has not won a single race, she has almost every time finished in the top three. Due to this enviable stability, she is able to be ahead of Reznikova by three points. For comparison: Reznikova has won four races in these championships but has been less consistent. Third overall is the Israeli Naama Greenberg with compatriot Linoy Geva in fourth. It is these four sailors who are the only ones who can win a medal tomorrow, everyone else is racing for pride and overall position.

“In such weather, it’s important to be fast and move in the right direction,” says Naama Greenberg. “In the medal race, I will try to show the maximum. There is one race left, and I will try to win it. Yana Reznikova and Manon Pianazza are very fast, it is difficult to compete with them, but the more difficult, the more interesting.”

MEDAL RACE AT THE RS:X YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

On August 10, at the RS:X Youth World Championship, one race in each fleet is planned. The highlight of the program will be the medal race.

For the 10 strongest racers the medal race is a contest between the best of the best, and it is the most spectacular end of the Championships. The points in the medal race are doubled, and gold will be at stake.

At 18.30 the awarding and closing ceremony of the regatta starts.

The official website of the competitions: www.rsxclass.org/youthworlds2019/

Text: RS:X Class
Photos: Anja Semeniouk

In St. Petersburg, the qualification series for the RS:X Youth World Championship in the class RS:X finished as another three races were completed. Racing is being held in the waters of the Neva Bay, and a racing village is encamped ashore near the park of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.

After the strong and shifting wind of the first day, a reduced wind of between 5-7 knots greeted the 104 competitors from 19 different nations on day 2. Despite the weather conditions for racing being challenging for both the competitors and the officials, the race teams held all three scheduled starts and completed all three races.

Versatility is one of the main advantages of the RS:X Olympic class. These boards are suitable both for planing modes and for transitional modes of weak wind. If on the first day of the World Championship the windsurfers gracefully planed around the course, today they had to demonstrate their skills in pumping with much greater physical effort.

The leaders in the boys ranking were the Israelis of Eyal Yohay Zror and Daniel Basik Tashtash – both were among the leaders after the first race day and confirmed their challenges for the title on the second day. Zror has 10 points and is the most consistent competitor with all of his races being in the top 3 position, Tashtash has 13 points overall. Among the chasing pack is Italian Edoardo Tanas, Frenchman Mathis Ghio, Israeli Riuven Hillel and Greek Alexandros Kalpogiannakis (all – 17 points). Gold fleet is going to be intense!

Alexandros is the winner of the 2018 Youth Olympics Games, the World and European Junior Championships in the Techno 293 class (the junior class before RS:X). Now he is trying to win the champion title in the Olympic class. In between competitions, Kalpogiannakis is advised by the 1996 Olympic windsurfing champion Nikolaos Kaklamanakis and Alexandros wants to follow in the footsteps of his great mentor.

“Today the wind was too weak and changeable. It was difficult, but I am ready for any weather conditions”, says the Greek windsurfer Alexandros Kalpogiannakis “A good racer should be stable and not dependent on the weather. In the second race, I made several wrong decisions. I moved on the left side, and it was absolutely wrong. In the last race I again went to the left, but this time everything went well. My strategy: do not fail and be stable. On the water, it makes no sense to choose any particular tactics, because you have to make the decision here and now.”

With the racing going in to gold fleet for the rest of the competition, Fabien Pianazza from France recovered from a shocking first day to climb up to 12^th overall and keep the hopes of defending his title alive.

Among the women, it is another Pianazza in the form of Manon Pianazza, Fabien’s sister, from France (14 points) who leads overall. She is followed by Israelis Naama Greenberg (17 points) and Linoy Geva (17 points) and local sailor Yana Reznikova (19 points). Pianazza had the best day and leapfrogged to the top of the leaderboard scoring 3, 3, 2 in the days light and tricky conditions. These top four sailors have created a little bit of the gap from the rest of the fleet and you can imagine that one of these four sailors will be collecting the championship title on Saturday.

For the Russian fans, they had a right to be pleased by the results from the girl’s fleet. First, Yana Reznikova from Moscow (fourth place overall) won the first race, and at the next start, the racer of the Academy of Sailing of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club Anastasia Shchedrina won (seventh place overall). Anastasia led around each mark of the course and kept the advantage until the finish. Anastasia has been in the RS:X class for less than a year and the result today shows her promise from this exciting racer for the future. For her success, she thanks the coaches of the Academy – Ivan Petrov and Ivan Shokhov.

“I was so surprised that when I got on the boat, I wanted to yell at the coach: “Yes, I am the first! Hurray!”, says Anastasia Shchedrina. – During the race, I tried to control every opponent. The most difficult thing is to control them on the second tacking when they diverged to the right and left sides. I analyzed which side is more beneficial and moved there. I was first on every mark. Before these championships we did a lot of work on pumping and board control. It’s very cool that the coaches supported me. Ivan Vladimirovich reminded me that I can do this, that I have five years experience of racing here. Ivan Sergeevich spoke about tactics and analyzed every race.”

At the end of the qualification (six races) among men, windsurfers were divided into two fleets – gold and silver. 35 of the best racers, including Russian racer Anton Tokarev (26th), got into the gold fleet. Women continue to race in a separate fleet.

The organizational information
At the World Junior Windsurfing Championships, six qualifying races were held. The organizers plan to hold another four to five final and one medal race. 104 racers from 19 countries divided into three fleets – two fleets for men (35 and 34 racers) and one for women (35). During the qualification, the composition of the two male fleets was shuffled at random. At the end of the qualification, the best 35 windsurfers made up the golden fleet, and the rest – the silver one.

Competitions’ programme

August 8 – 11:00 start of the first race, 3 races scheduled

August 9 – 11:00 start of the first race, 3 races scheduled

August 10 – 11:00 start of the first race of the competitions’ day, 18:30 awarding ceremony of the regatta, closing ceremony of the regatta.