Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds – The gold fleet changes everything

by segler-zeitung.de on 6 Aug 2016 Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds – Federica Cattarozzi (Italy), the top female sailor during the qualification series, dropped out of the Top Three after two disappointing races in the final series today, and Emma Savelon from the Netherlands took the lead. The boys` leaderboard also saw a change after Guido Gallinaro had a close win over Dimitrios Papadimitriou (Greece) in the second race.

A constant northwesterly breeze of 13 to 17 knots provided tight racing with lots of quick changes on the leaderboard today. The second race of the boys’ fleet in particular proved to be a real thriller. Guido Gallinaro, the new leader overall, still felt the adrenaline pumping in his veins when he was back on shore. “I had a good start into the second race and stayed close to Dimitrios”, said Gallinaro; “we rounded the first mark together and I could overtake him. But, on the reach leg, a part of my hiking belt broke and I fell out of the boat!” So Dimitrios Papadimitriou took over again, but, during the upwind finish, the tiller extensions slipped out of his hand. The Italian Gallinaro took his chance, overtook and crossed the finish line first. With six points of advantage on Papadimitriou, the current U16 European Champion Gallinaro enters the final day of the Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds in first position overall.

Gallinaro´s team mate, Federica Cattarozzi, was out of luck. The 16-year-old, who had dominated the fleet in the qualification, did not get a grip today and finished 39. and 31. Emma Savelon from the Netherlands also made some mistakes in the first race and finished 43., but came back with a fourth place in the second race. The 16-year-old Dutch is in the lead now.

It´s well-known that the situation changes dramatically when sailors are grouped into their final fleets based on their performance in the qualification races. And we saw proof of that today. Juli Baruch from Israel finished with two second places and climbed up the leader board to second overall. „I started very badly in the first race and was 15th at the first mark rounding, but then I was able to overtake girl after girl. I had very good boat speed”, the 16-year-old said with a smile. Asked whether she was nervous before the final day, Baruch said: “Yes, terribly! I won´t get a second of sleep tonight, I am afraid.”

Tomorrow at 11 am will be the first gun for the final races of the Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds. The wind forecast sees north-westerly wind of 13 to 17 knots with peaks of 25 knots.

Results are provisional as there were still protests running at the time of the publication.

Results girls:
1. Emma Savelon (Netherlands, 31 points), 2. Juli Baruch (Israel, 47), 3. Mariia Kislukhina, Russia, 49), 4. Annabelle Westerhof (Netherlands, 60), 5. Federica Cattarozzi (Italy, 67), 6. Julia Büsselberg (Germany, 73)

Results boys Jungen:
1. Guido Gallinaro (Italy, 19), 2. Dimitrios Papadimitriou (Greece, 25), 3. Elia Vitali (Italy, 59), 4. Pere Ponseti (Spain, 60), 5. Uffe Tomasgaard (Norway, 61), 6. Andrey De Oliveira Godoy (Brazil, 66)