2015 Student Yachting World Cup – Final day overall + Video

by Icarus Sailing Media on 22 Oct 2015 Today was the last the last day of the 35th edition of the Student Yachting World Cup, and it was still not possible to know the name of the future champion at the beginning of the day: the Swiss team coming from Lausanne were in a good position to get the title, the English team from Southampton could still catch up on them and win the competition. Two races were planned to finish this intense week, both of them inshore races in the bay of Le Pouliguen.

Due to a stronger wind than the previous days, the crews were authorized to use a small spinnaker only.

From the beginning of the day, the French team decided to resign from the regattas due to the absence of two crew members, which would have disqualified them anyway. For them, the competition finished on Sunday.

The first one of this two races was quite similar to the previous days, only the wind intensity was different. The ranking of this round was pretty much different from what we were accustomed to see: Canada won the race dominating it from the beginning until the end, followed by the two teams leading the total ranking: the English team from Southampton defending their title of student world champion, and the Swiss team, great favourite for the final victory. Just behind them, Japan make a great performance finishing at the fourth position!

At last, the last race begun just before 1pm. It was designed the same way as the previous race, except it had one more windward side to make it a little longer. Switzerland, almost assured at this time to finish at the first place of the general ranking, took the lead of the race followed by Southampton, who didn’t want to give up on their last chance to catch up on their opponents and win the title once again. Finally, after a tug of war between the two contenders far ahead of the pack, Southampton won the last race with the Swiss behind them. Behind them came the Irish, who can be proud of their performance this year, and Japan who finished once again at the fourth position and finished the week beautifully! Unfortunately, this round was marked by technical problems, as Cambridge team couldn’t be at the start of the race due to problems with their jib, and Canada was forced to resign also for a technical issue.

Finally, the closing ceremony took place at night and saw the Swiss team be crowned world student champion. The AGPM trophy rewarding the crew who has the best performances on the coastal races was awarded to Ireland, and the trophy of the city of Le Pouliguen was given to Southampton, who finished second in the final ranking.

Nevertheless, each one of the teams present to this edition deserve to be congratulated for the amazing performance displayed during the six days in the bay of Le Pouliguen. Supported by a great weather, the sixty-two competitors fought teeth and nails on the water, and the ranking was tight until the very end of the competition.