One mistake and the fleet is gone at 470 Junior Worlds

by 470 International Association Class on 24 Jun 2016 The waters off Kiel, Germany shrugged off their reputation for chilly Baltic temperatures and turned on Mediterranean temperatures and much more settled breezes on day two at the 2016 470 Junior World Championship.

Clearly the warmth and decent breezes suited the Spanish partnership of Silvia Mas/Paula Barcelo who accelerated to take over pole position in the 470 Women fleet by five points. In the 470 Men, Germany’s Malte Winkel/Matti Cipra still lead, but the race track belonged to Italy’s Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabro were unstoppable, winning both races.

After yesterday’s problematic opening day, with unsettled shifty breezes, smiles were more evident around the 470 Junior World Championship boat park.

The Men’s fleets faced two races in a settled eight - twelve knots to complete their qualifying series, and from Friday continue in gold and silver fleet splits. The Women’s fleet tackled three races in their single series format.

470 Men

“Yesterday was very tricky. Today was perfect,” said Italy’s Giulio Calabro reflecting on their back to back wins in the day’s two races. “Our second start was not very good at all but we really were sailing fast. Two wins is good for us.”

'Yesterday was crazy, today it was much better. We will continue to do our best in the following days,' added Ferrari.

Regardless of the Italian’s prowess today, it is Germany’s Malte Winkel/Matti Cipra who ride a wave of confidence on the race track they know well.

“The wind was stable and it was quite physical. We had to fight hard in both races rounding the top mark in fifth or sixth each time and then taking boats. In the second race we had such a bad start, touching the pin end boat and so we had to do a 360 but we got fourth,” said Cipra

Winkel took over, saying, “I think we are leading because we have made the fewest mistakes. Yesterday was really difficult and you had to get the one gust to do well and if you missed it you were nowhere. This year we have been sailing a lot in Rio to support our 470 team for the Olympic Games, but the last one and a half weeks we have trained hard here. And the last few years we have trained here but mostly in front of the harbour. And I learned on a Lake so the shifty conditions are good for me.”

'It's all about not making any mistakes,' continued Winkel. 'Until now we managed really well. But the team from Italy are very strong.'

The German pair, who have never before led a regatta as important as the 470 Junior World Championship, hold an advantage of two points over Japan’s Keiju Okada/Naoya Kimura, with stiff competition just four points behind in the form of Spain’s twin brothers David and Alex Charles. The Spanish are pursued by Italians Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabro.

Keiju Okada/Naoya Kimura could not reinforce their strong start from yesterday, but results of five, seven keep them just two points off Germany’s series leaders.

Defending champions, Guillaume Pirouelle/ Valentin Sipan, were less satisfied. After a third and a sixth place they are now in fifth overall.

“It is not enough to win at the moment,” said Sipan. “We sailed good races, but it's a strong fleet and we are behind the leading crews.”

Israel’s Maor Abu/Yoaz Rooz are working on the best way to put their plan of securing a medal into practice, despite making their debut season in the 470 Class. After three consecutive sixth place finishes yesterday, they upgraded to a race win and second place today, and are cautiously optimistic.
“It was a very successful day today, different than yesterday. But we cannot afford to make mistakes. As soon as there is a chance, the fleet passes by,” explained Abu.

With just seven points separating the top six teams, everything is all open going into Friday’s first final series races.

470 men - Provisional Results after Five Races

1. Malte WINKEL/Matti CIPRA (GER 13) - 8 pts
2. Keiju OKADA/Naoya KIMURA (JPN 4562) - 10 pts
3. David CHARLES/Alex CHARLES (ESP 1) - 12 pts
4. Giacomo FERRARI/Giulio CALABRO' (ITA 757) - 13 pts
5. Guillaume PIROUELLE/Valentin SIPAN (FRA 76) - 14 pts
6. Maor ABU/Yoav ROOZ (ISR 10) - 15 pts
7. Daichi TAKAYAMA/Akira TAKAYANAGI (JPN 4585) - 20 pts
8. Balázs GYAPJAS/Zsombor GYAPJAS (HUN 1) - 21 pts
9. Martin WRIGLEY/James TAYLOR (GBR 843) - 22 pts
10. Oleksii ZINCHENKO/Ihor HOLOVIN (UKR 99) - 22 pts

470 Women

It was not today’s sticky heat which made Spain’s partnership of Silvia Mas/Paula Barcelo feel at home, but the breeze patterns and choppy sea which they say are reminiscent of home training waters on the Bay of Palma.

'It was not tricky like yesterday, much more settled and usually the left was strong. I think we can do well here if we can keep this up into the finals,' explained Barcelo on their two, four, two in the day’s three races for the 470 Women.

Knocking overnight leaders Marina Lefort/Lara Granier off the top of the leaderboard is no surprise from this hugely talented team. In 2014, Mas won the ISAF Youth Worlds with her former crew, and last year with Barcelo picked up silver medals at the 2105 470 Junior Europeans. So far, form is looking on target to upgrade from their sixth place at last year’s 470 Junior Worlds.

'Today it was not as tricky as yesterday. The conditions were a bit like in Palma, where we have trained a lot. So that was our advantage today,' said Mas.

Newcomers in the 470 class, and overnight leaders Lefort/Granier, who had a strong start in yesterday’s light breeze, didn’t repeat their performance and dropped to fourth overall. Regardless, still impressive form in the quality of fleet.

“We are here to see what is possible in the class,' stated the sailors from Marseille.

Defending Champions, Benedetta di Salle/Alessandra Dubbini are fifth overall.

'It is okay, but we can do better,' said di Salle in simple conclusion of their race card so far.

Frederike Loewe/Anna Markfort, representing the National German Sailing Team, kept up their form, counting a win in race five, to end day two in third overall.

470 Women - Provisional Results after six Races

1. Silvia Mas DEPARES/Paula Barcelo MARTIN (ESP 18) - 14 pts
2. Maria BOZI/Rafailina KLONARIDOU (GRE 21) - 19 pts
3. Frederike LOEWE/Anna MARKFORT (GER 26) - 25 pts
4. Marina LEFORT/Lara GRANIER (FRA 7) - 26 pts
5. Benedetta DI SALLE/Alessandra DUBBINI (ITA 74) - 31 pts
6. Yahel WALLACH/Shahar TIBI (ISR 12) - 38 pts
7. Beste KAYNAKCI/S?may ASLAN (TUR 99) - 44 pts
8. Noya BAR-AM/Rimon SHOSHAN (ISR 11) - 47 pts
9. Nuraisyah JAMIL/Mohamad Sayed NORASHIKIN (MAS 23) - 48 pts
10. Ilaria PATERNOSTER/Bianca CARUSO (ITA 33) - 56 pts