Techno 293 World Championships – Action packed

by International Windsurfing Association on 9 Nov 2015 336 competitors from 26 countries gathered in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy to take part in the 2015 Techno293 World Championships. The host Windsurfing Club Cagliari put on a great event, especially as the organisers had to take over the regatta just months before it took place due to organisational problems at a previously picked site. The sailors that came to the island had six days packed with action and 12 races for most of the fleets.

Welcome to Cagliari - Ready to have fun?

The opening ceremony followed a short parade from Windsurfing Club Cagliari to the harbour with each country carrying a sign and their flag, entering the amphitheatre as their national anthem was being played. The host country, with the largest fleet in the race, entered last. It was quite a sight to see!

Techno 293 Class President, Ezio Ferin, introduced Windsurfing Club Cagliari President, Giuseppe Marghinotti, who welcomed competitors, coaches, family members and friends, wishing everybody a great week in Cagliari.” Not everybody can win, obviously, but I'm sure that all together we will share many moments of sport, friendship and fun'.

Former skipper and team director of Luna Rossa. Max Sirena, of America's Cup fame and local sailor Andrea Mura, also with some strong America's Cup experience were present, giving the kids a great opportunity to meet celebrated sailing role models.

France, Italy and Israel, what a start!

A strong start for the 2015 Techno293 World Championships in Cagliari, with three races completed for all fleets in less than four hours. And an even stronger start for France, Italy and Israel: these three big teams confirmed their medal ambitions from day one. With the help of a 10-12 knots breeze from South-East, the Race Committee started on schedule and did a good job at running the show, managing 334 competitors on two courses and bringing everybody ashore before 2 p.m. - not too late for a good plate of pasta.

In the Youth girls’ fleet, we were once again ready to watch a fight between two great rivals - Katy Spychakov from Israel and Italian Giorgia Speciale. Katy was leading after the first day, but she must remember her opponent's late comeback at the European Championships in Liepaja, not many weeks before. Giorgia had the final say in Latvia, winning the gold by two points. This was a different event though, and today Katy closed first in all three races. 'I was hoping for a stronger wind,' she said at the end, 'the kind we had at times during the two weeks of training I spent in Cagliari before the Worlds. It was a good start, anyway. Today I managed to keep Georgia behind me but I know that it will be a long and difficult race.' Also because another Italian could step in: Enrica Schirru from Cagliari knows these waters very well and she confirmed it with a solid 3- 3-3 today.

In the Youth boys fleet the French were strong once again. Don't look for the 2014 U15 gold medal Tom Arnoux at the top: he closed the day with an almost perfect 2-1 but because of an OCS in the first race he had to give way to Mateo Dussarps (2-1-2) and Florian Salette (1-3-3), for now. A discard would bring him right back in the fight. Daniele Gallo from Italy was in third position overall. 'Wind was perfect today,' said Daniele. 'I had been in Cagliari years ago but I didn't remember such a fun race course. I'm sure it will be a great Championship.' The Italians, French and Israelis also had a positive day in the U15 fleets, with FRA-946 Heloise Macquaert winning all her races in the girls' fleet. 'I had some good starts and that helped to control the race,' said Heloise.

ISR-250 Bar Navri led the boys, ahead of Simone Montanucci and Giorgio Stancampiano of Italy. Leonidas Tsortanidis of Greece (22-2-2) and Fabien Pianazza of France (RET-1-1) had a difficult start but both were strong medal contenders.

Another perfect score for the opening day in the Plus men fleet. Michele Cittadini's 1-1-1 ahead of JPN 400 Juta Mori confirmed that the representative of the host club (Windsurfing Club Cagliari) was aiming for another medal - he was third U15 in Martigues in 2010 and third U17 in Medemblik two years later. In the women’s fleet, Lucie Pianazza was still the safest bet, even if she didn't start exactly as planned (DNC-1-1). FRA-889 Jeanne Penfornis (1-2-2) led the group for now, followed by Italian Elena Vacca (3-3-3) and Momoka Hara from Japan.

Little wind, long wait and some surprises with only two races

The day started off with a leader lycra ceremony for the top three of each fleet and then the waiting game began. The weather conditions were not too optimistic with the uncommon in Sardinia flat water and wind of about 3-4 kts. It wasn’t until 14:20 that the race committee called out the sailors for some racing. The U15 and U17 boys were set to start and, as it later turned out, they were the only fleet to have a race in.

It was not easy to start with the wind of around five to seven knots, but after a couple of abandoned races all the flights managed to complete a light wind start. There was a lot of pumping and the lighter sailors preferred today’s racing. The strong wind specialists would have their opportunities later in the week, as Techno293 is a versatile class which is great in almost all conditions.

There were no changes to the girls and Techno Plus fleet results today. The boys however, apart from the extra result, got their first discard of the championship. In the youth fleet it was the French sailors in the top four places, Although it was Yoav Cohen from Israel winning the day’s race, Mateo Dussarps was in the lead.

The junior fleet saw Jakub Sykula from Sopot, Poland securing his first win of the event and advancing to seventh overall. Bar Navri from Israel still led the fleet despite his 23rd place today.

Light wind specialists have their day

Another light wind day of action at the Techno 293 World Championships in Cagliari. Race committee waited for the breeze to pick up before calling the competitors out and all fleets except one managed to complete two races. Enough to challenge the top positions in most of the groups.

The Under 15 boys sailing on the 6.8 sq m sail were now led by Edoardo Tanas of Italy, tied at 14 points with Charalampos Kogias from Greece and three points ahead of NED-600 Jim van Someren. Bar Navri ISR-250 fleet leader for the first two days was now out of the top ten groups.

After six races, the Under 17 boys’ fleet also had a new leader, ISR-253 Yoav Cohen. With a strong 1-2 he took the top spot from Mateo Dussarps of France (OCS and 6). Third position for Itai Kafri, winner of the last race of the day. The 2014 U15 gold medal, Tom Arnoux of France, didn't have an easy afternoon (13-10) and ended 11th.

Katy Spychakov from Israel and current European champion Giorgia Speciale were still favourites for the top place in the Under 17 girls’ fleet but five to seven knots were not enough for them to leave the group behind and both often found themselves in complicated situations at the marks. Home girl Enrica Schirru was now in third, on equal points with Giorgia, and she would not give it up without a fight. The day belonged to another sailor, though: Lidia Sulikowska from Poland got a first and third and jumped up to fifth overall.

The Under 15 girls were still led by Heloise Macquaert of France, who despite a weaker performance managed to defend her top position from her team friend Enora Tanne and Italy's Gaia Busetta.

The single race for the Techno Plus men was a one-nation show. Japan dominated the fleet by taking the top nine places. This wasn't enough however to take over the lead from local sailor Michele Cittadini, who despite his 11th place (discarded) still had a two point margin on Yuta Mori and six on Masanao Komatsu.

The Techno Plus women would also have a hard job taking the gold from 2014 U17 champion Lucie Pianazza of France. Lucie won her fourth consecutive race, proving that she is solid in all conditions. FRA-889 Jeanne Penfornis and ITA-711 Elena Vacca were still second and third.

Mistral test passed, two gold medals have a name on already

Dark clouds and some rain threatened the fourth day of the Techno 293 World Championships in Cagliari. But it didn't last. By noon sun was out, sky was blue and all sailors were rushing to the course, with the Under 17 and Under 15 boys now split between Gold and Silver fleets.

A couple hours of fantastic racing later, the Mistral test confirmed that the two Under 17 gold medals were reserved already, by Yoav Cohen and Katy Spychakov of Israel. Everything else was still to be decided.

With the wind blowing from shore, the Race committee finally had a chance to set one of the courses really close. People at the beach during lunch break, on a beautiful, bright day that felt like late summer and not the end of October, enjoyed the Under 15 fleets battling around the marks. Race started with 10-12 knots but wind direction was not very stable. Later it set on Mistral, NW 12-15 knots, with some gusts to spice things up. Hardly a relaxing afternoon for the kids that had enjoyed the lighter winds of the previous days maybe, but fair for everybody else, after so much pumping and struggling. In these conditions three races for all fleets easily completed.

At the end, one of the happiest sailors was Katy Spychakov, ISR-32, still leading the Under 17 girls. She raced by herself the whole time and with a 1-1-1 cut every discussion short, putting some more points between her and the only two credible challengers, Italians Giorgia Speciale and Enrica Schirru. 'Strong wind and no waves: perfect conditions, finally,' said Katy at the end. 'Let's hope for something like this also for the last two days. I'm starting to believe that I could lead all the way to the end.'

Yoav Cohen, undisputed leader in the Under 17 boys fleet, performed well in all conditions and with the latest 2-6- 2 had a safe 16 points lead. All the others could only battle for silver and bronze now. ESP-211 Fernando Lamadrid Trueba and HKG-36 Ho Yin Cheng were second and third, with early leader Mateo Dussarps FRA-17 just a few points away from the podium.

Among the Under 15 boys it was a very tight race between Leonidas Tsortanidis of Greece (1-4-1) and French sailor Fabien Pianazza (2-2-2): just one point between them after eight races. 'I love gusty wind, this was exactly my day,' said Leonidas. 'Finally I found the right pace.' FRA-781 Yun Pouliquen was now third but would have to defend a possible bronze medal from Italians, Edoardo Tanas and Giorgio Stancampiano, just a few points behind.

Heloise Macquaert (FRA-946) would keep the Under 15 girls' yellow lycra at least for one more day, but she really had to work for it. 'Today it hasn't been easy. Everybody knows that I race better in lighter winds,' confirmed the young French sailor. 'Good for me that I managed to finish second in the last race.' Podium was more or less defined in this fleet, with FRA-322 Enora Tanne second and ISR-442 Linoy Geva third, but positions could still be switched. Just for the record, none of the top three girls could take a Mistral race: the winners were Capucine Marsaudon (FRA-1801), Mollie Densley Robins (GBR-3030) and Dominique Slater (USA-220).

In the Plus fleets, great day for local sailor Elena Vacca. She knew all the secrets of the course, the Mistral, and she managed to beat Lucie Pianazza twice, taking away the second place overall from Jeanne Penfornis of France. Gold was probably out of reach, but Elena could contend the silver medal to Jeanne and to Momoka Hara of Japan (very good 1-2-3 with strong wind). In the men’s fleet another local champion, Michele Cittadini, still led, but every day the Japanese team found a new challenger for him: Yuta Iwasaki took away seven points from his lead in just three races.

Under 17 gold medals go to Israel

As expected, both Katy Spychakov and Yoav Cohen (Under 17) secured their gold medals one day early. With light wind again in Cagliari, she kept winning (1- 1), he just kept the rivals under control (4-2). Celebrations in the water and back to shore, with different reactions. 'I won two medals in the past, gold in Poland in 2013 and bronze in France last year, but this world title is different,' said Yoav. 'The whole fleet has grown so much; it has been a really tough championship for everybody.' It's the first world title for Katy: 'I'm really happy. With light wind and no waves, today I had no problems.'

Both Under 17 fleets would assign the other medals on Saturday. Just one race left for the boys, with two points at the start between second and third seeded, Fernando Lamadrid Trueba of Spain and Tom Arnoux of France. A few more competitors - like Ho Yin Cheng, HKG-36, or Mateo Dussarps, FRA-17 - could still jump on the podium. Two races for the girls: Italian Giorgia Speciale had very good chances for silver - a 13 points margin and too much experience at this level to make risky moves. Her team mate and friend Enrica Schirru still had to earn the bronze medal. Aikaterini Divari of Greece was nine points behind but she hoped to get rid of the 16 points she'd carried from race 4 - and she also finished ahead of the Italian in the last five races.

Gold for the Under 15 boys would be decided in just one race between Leonidas Tsortanidis of Greece (3-1 on Friday, now leading by two points) and Yun Pouliquen of France (2-2 in the last two races). We'll see if their very strong teams will come into play, somehow. But another Greece vs. France is announced for bronze: Fabien Pianazza (FRA-312) against Charalampos Kogias (GRE-107), four points apart. Just keep an eye on fifth seeded Edoardo Tanas of Italy, ready to jump into the fight.

Two final races for the Under 15 girls, if the wind agreed. Heloise Macquaert of France ahead of Linoy Geva (ISR- 442) by nine points and Enora Tanne (FRA-322) three more points behind. Surprises were still possible and even Dana Bekmuratova of Russia and Marta Monge from Italy - first and second in the last race on Friday - still had a chance for bronze, at least.

Techno Plus fleets needed three races to complete their program and Windsurfing Club Cagliari hoped to keep two medals here. Michele Cittadini still ahead of the men but no mistakes would be allowed facing Team Japan, if he wanted to grab the gold. Yuta Iwasaki (eight points behind) and Yuta Mori (13) were waiting for him.

Final push for podium places

Going into the final day with a 13 points lead, Lucie Pianazza could only throw her gold medal away, but her 1-2 on Friday proved she was really focused on the target. Jeanne Penfornis (FRA-889) and Elena Vacca (ITA-711) were even at 23 and would likely battle for silver and bronze with Momoka Hara of Japan. The day however brought some rain instead and the final starts were raced in 8 to 10 kts.

In the under 17 girls fleet Katy Spychakov from Israel had already secured her gold medal on the previous day and could just enjoy the sailing today. You could tell she was a fighter though because after finishing ninth in the first race of the day, she went on to confirm her domination over the fleet by winning the final race of the regatta. That was her ninth win in the week. Katy's biggest rival Giorgia Speciale from Italy, having comfortably won the opening race of the day could be certain of her silver medal.

There was much more drama in the fight for the third place. Before the last start Enrica Schirru from Italy and Aikaterini Divari from Greece were tied on points. The Italian was in third for the whole competition, but Aikaterini had beaten her in 6 of the previous races and you could feel the tension. To make matters more interesting the young windsurfers finished the event with their worst results so far. Enrica was 35th and Aikaterini 33rd. After crossing the finish line, the girls did not know who had won. Enrica was sure that she had lost her podium position and cried. However laughter came soon after, when she learned that she was the bronze medallist.

Yoav Cohen was the second sailor from Israel to secure his top position. The fight for silver and bronze was between Tom Arnoux from France and Fernando Lamadrid Trueba from Spain. Tom needed to beat Fernando by five places to secure silver and the Frenchman did more than enough. He won the race and with Fernando eleventh, it was Tom who was taking the silver medal home.

In the under 15 girls there were also some changes in the podium positions. A very strong finish by Russia's Dana Bekmuratova meant that she could join on the podium the two French competitors, Enora Tanne and Heloise Macquaert. Heloise being the World Champion. The world champion title of the U15 boys went to Leonidas Tsortanidis from Greece, Yun Pouliquen and Fabien Pianazza were second and third.

In the Youth Olympic Techno Plus class Japanese competitors Yuta Mori and Yuta Iwasaki did really well finishing second and third. They could not stop, however, the local representative of Cagliari Windsurfing Club, Michele Cittadini, from claiming the gold medal. He finished the championships with a first and second. In the women's fleet Michele's teammate Elena Vacca came third, just after the French Jeanne Penfornis and Lucie Pianazza.

That concludes the 2015 World Championships. In 2016 the Techno293 class will travel to Sopot, Poland for the Europeans and will be back to Italy for the Worlds. This time Garda will be the host of this great event.