Laser Radial Worlds - Young Australian talent makes big move on Day 2

by Katie Olsen on 22 Aug The second day of Laser Radial World Championships brought sun and 6-8 knots of breeze for all three fleets to complete two races. Yesterday’s racing in difficult, light wind highlighted different sailors in each race, and the same applied today with new names at the top of the leaderboard.

In the white fleet today, the most notable performance was that of Australia’s Mara Stransky. After a general recall, the white fleet started race three and Mirthe Akkerman (NED) shot out to the front by the first mark, where Stransky was around 10th. But she slowly chipped away at the fleet and sailed into second place behind Akkerman, with Evi Van Acker (BEL) securing third far ahead of the fleet. In race four, Stransky held her first place position around the entirety of the course and by the final reach, she had created a very established win for herself. Manami Doi (JPN) worked her way into second place with Agata Barwinska (POL) tailing in third.

Stransky, only 18 years old, shared that she was “more surprised than anyone” with her performance. “It’s my first World Championship, so coming here was more about experience in a good, high-quality, big fleet,” she admitted. “Yesterday my racing was pretty average, I was battling off the line just to get in clean air. Today I just decided I would focus on starting and controlling the things I could control.”

The yellow fleet set off on race three after a clean start, and began to spread out by the first mark with Pauline Liebig (GER) rounding in first. Josefin Olsson (SWE) followed behind with Marit Bouwmeester (NED) on her tail. The three women held their positions out front, but Olsson managed to sail past Liebig and create quite a distance between herself and the other two. Liebig and Bouwmeester claimed second and third respectively. Great Britain was in the vanguard for race four, with Rheanna Pavey heading the fleet and Alice Woodings Hyde maintaining second until the final downwind. Isabella Bertold (CAN) overtook Hyde and sailed into second across the finish line, but Great Britain claimed a first and third.

Overall, however, Evi Van Acker sits in first place of the women’s division with 10 points. “It’s all about being consistent,” she explained. “It’s a long week, it’s six days, twelve races, it’s longer than we are used to. So, it’s just really important to just always be in front. You don’t have to win the races, just sail fast and minimize your mistakes.” Doi has climbed to second overall with 14 points, and Cristina Pujol (ESP) has pushed up into third with 16 points.

In the men’s fleet, there were a few more general recalls, but eventually two races were completed. In Race 3, Zac Littlewood (AUS) took off with speed leading the fleet on the first downwind, but Poland’s five-time World Champion, Marcin Rudawski passed Littlewood on the second upwind and sailed to the finish by a wide margin. Alfonso Fernández (ESP) took second place with Littlewood in third. In race four, Axel Rahm (SWE) claimed first, setting himself at the top of the leaderboard overall, paired with his fifth place from race three. New faces rose to the top, with Radvilas Janulionis (LTU) sailing into second, and Eliot Merceron (SUI) in third.

Rahm is in first overall with nine points, only one point ahead of a tie for second place. Daniil Krutskikh (RUS) and Fernández each have 10 points.

Racing continues tomorrow with two more races scheduled.

Women’s preliminary results after two races:
1. Evi Van Acker BEL 10pts
2. Manami Doi JPN 14pts
3. Cristina Pujol ESP 16pts
4. Brenda Bowskill CAN 19pts
5. Dolores Moreira Fraschini URU 19pts
6. Kim Pletikos SLO 20pts
7. Svenja Weger GER 20pts
8. Isabella Maegli GUA 23pts
9. Mara Stransky AUS 24pts
10. Maxime Jonker NED 24pts

Men’s preliminary results after two races:
1. Axel Rahm SWE 9pts
2. Daniil Krutskikh RUS 10pts
3. Alfonso Fernández ESP 10pts
4. Marcin Rudawski POL 20pts
5. Maxime Mazard FRA 21pts
6. Eliot Merceron SUI 26pts
7. Andrey Godoy BRA 34pts
8. Yoshihiro Suzuki JPN 36pts
9. Loukianos Zamit GRE 37pts
10. Aleksandr Moliakov NED 37pts