Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship Day 1

by Sophie Luther on 13 Jul 2008 The first day of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship - lots of action on the water, with capsizes and breakages as the rain clouds passed over the Bay of Århus.

'Just awesome', was how Australian 29er helm Hannah Nattrass summarized today’s conditions, but that was not a sentiment shared by everyone in Århus as squalls brought gusts of wind up to 30 knots giving the competitors hard conditions to start the event in. Racing began at 12:00 with the sun shining and a southerly breeze of around 11 knots, but as the day progressed the forecast rain showers hit and the wind increased throughout the afternoon. Two races were finished by all but the SL16 class, before the conditions deteriorated and the fleets were sent in.

In the RS:X girls fleet Laura Linares (ITA), the two-time Youth gold medallist had a faultless day with two first places and even managed to overtake a few of the boy windsurfers who had started before her. 'It was quite tiring and cold out there today, but I am pleased with my results,' she commented. 'The wind was quite shifty where we were, from 15 -18 knots with choppy waters.'

The Cypriot windsurfer, Michalis Malekkides mirrored Linares’ performance with two first places in the boy’s fleet, with Thiseas Kampas from Greece close in second place.

It was a good first day for another Cypriot, Pavlos Kontides, the defending champion in the Laser class who got his series underway in style by leading the first race from start to finish. However, in the second race he was left at the back of the fleet after hitting the pin end at the start and doing penalty turns, but sailed through the fleet to recover to second place behind Denmark’s Thorbjørn Schierup.

For Kontides, as well as this being his fifth and final year at the Youth Worlds, it is also his last event before he travels to Qingdao to represent Cyprus at the 2008 Olympic Games. Despite his mistake in race 2, Kontides was more than happy with his performance today. 'I have had a great day,' he said. 'This event is run just like the Olympics you don’t have to worry about anything other than sailing as everything is sorted for you.'

In the Laser Radial class, the 2007 champion also started well with Gabrielle King (AUS) lying second overall to Isabella Bertold of Canada. Denmark’s Cathrine Sofie Hall is third.

In the multihull event, contested in the SL16 class for the first time, the competitors had a lot to do to keep their boats upright and only managed to get one race in, won by French brothers Valentin and Romain Bellet. Crew Romain explained how he felt after the action of the day. 'We had a good first race but the second the fleet could not finish. The wind was steady for us but there was a lot of chop. The Danish and English team are our biggest competitors but the Singapore team are pretty good too.' The SL 16 class is the only open event at the regatta, with boys and girls competing in the same fleet.

The breeze and the waves made for exciting but testing conditions in the two 29er fleets. The British pair of Frances Peters and Claire Lasko lead the girls fleet, just ahead of Australia’s Hannah Nattrass and Michelle Muller.

'Communication was the big thing for us,' said Nattrass following her team’s fourth and first place finishes today. 'There were a lot of rain squalls and clouds, so we had to make sure we were always on the look out.'

Nattrass and Muller won a bronze medal in 2007 and the Aussie helm is pretty clear on her ambitions for this year, 'Shell [crew Michelle Muller] and I are both here for one reason. I’m sure that’s why everyone else is here. They’re not here to make up the numbers. They’re here to stand on the podium at the end!'

The Australian pairing went one better in the Boy’s 29er fleet, with Byron White and Rhys Mara (AUS) leading overall after two second place finishes today. They are closely followed by the Argentinean team of Germán Billoch and Gastón Cheb Terrab and James Peters and Edward Fitzgerald of Great Britain.

Yesterday saw the competitors’ parade through the city proudly waving their country flags following a swing marching band to the Town Hall, where they were officially welcomed to Denmark.

The Opening Ceremony was a Royal affair with the HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark greeting the teams, volunteers and Organizing Committee to the city of Århus.

As a keen sailor himself and the Patron of the event he wished the competitors good luck and said, 'I wish you have a successful and memorable stay in Århus. I hope you compete well and engage in lifelong friendships with sailors from all over the world. Sail fast!'

Following the traditional mixing of the waters ceremony, were a representative from each nation adds waters from their local sailing venue to the mixing bowl, ISAF President Göran Petersson officially opened this year’s championship. Other dignitaries at the ceremony were Århus Mayor Nicolai Wammen and Knut Frostad, CEO of Volvo Ocean Race.

Knut Frostad commented, 'Volvo is very proud to be sponsoring such an important event for youth sailors of the world. Many competitors in the Volvo Ocean Race have competed in this event and other youth championships, this shows us how important these events are and how some of you sailors will grow up to be the skippers and crew in the Volvo Ocean Race.'

Racing continues in Århus tomorrow, with the forecast for less intense wind conditions than today, although the rain showers look set to continue. The first races are scheduled for a 12:00 start.

Full results here

		Laser Class
Rank	Nat	Helm	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1	CYP	Pavlos Kontides	1	2	3	3
2	DEN	Thorbjørn Schierup	4	1	5	5
3	NZL	Sam Meech	3	3	6	6
4	USA	Luke Lawrence	2	6	8	8
5	GBR	Stuart Godwin	5	4	9	9
6	IRL	Ben Lynch	6	8	14	14
7	CAN	Robert Davis	8	7	15	15
8	FRA	Jules Ferrer	7	10	17	17
9	BRA	Jorge Joäo Zarif	13	5	18	18
10	AUS	Thomas Burton	9	9	18	18
11	NED	Maarten Max Moerman	10	11	21	21
12	AUT	Matthias Sailer	12	17	29	29
13	SWE	Niclas Düring	19	12	31	31
14	CRO	Edi Barbalic	20	13	33	33
15	ARG	Juan Pablo Bisio	15	19	34	34
16	GER	Maximilian Röbner	18	16	34	34
17	SLO	Nik Pletikos	14	21	35	35
18	NOR	Mathias Mollatt	17	18	35	35
19	TRI	Aaron Barcant	23	15	38	38
20	POL	Michal Pasik	25	14	39	39
21	BEL	Thomas Van Hoeylandt	16	23	39	39
22	RUS	Seregkin Victor	11	30	41	41
23	KOR	Yoon Hyeonsu	27	20	47	47
24	ITA	Giancarlo Ostuni	22	26	48	48
25	RSA	Rudi McNeill	24	24	48	48
26	MEX	Jeronimo Cervantes	21	31	52	52
27	URU	Rafael Lorieto	31	22	53	53
28	ESP	Aluaro Ruiz	29	25	54	54
29	SIN	Junhao Lo	26	32	58	58
30	VEN	Andres Lage	38	27	65	65
31	IVB	Alec Anderson	37	28	65	65
32	POR	Tiago Morais	36	29	65	65
33	GRE	Alexandros Kiourtzis	30	36	66	66
34	CZE	Marek Horácek	32	37	69	69
35	EST	Martin Sepp	35	34	69	69
36	LTU	Mantas Krumpalcas	33	38	71	71
37	BER	William Hutchings	40	33	73	73
38	TUR	J. Celal Tumsen	28	DNC	76	76
39	FIN	Joonatan Partinen	34	42	76	76
40	AHO	Vincent Pietersz	42	35	77	77
41	JPN	Wataru Okumura	39	41	80	80
42	ECU	Angelo Teran	41	40	81	81
43	ISL	Bergthor Jonsson	43	39	82	82
44	CHI	Daniel Irarrazabal	DNF	43	91	91
45	CUB	Jose Miguel Betancourt Kokoreva	DNC	DNC	96	96
45	ALG	Lyes Tigane	DNC	DNC	96	96
45	PAR	Guillermo Gabriel Gomez	DNF	DNC	96	96
		Laser Radial Class
Rank	Nat	Helm	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1	CAN	Isabella Bertold	3	1	4	4
2	AUS	Gabrielle King	5	2	7	7
3	DEN	Cathrine Sofie Hall	2	6	8	8
4	SIN	Elisbath Yeling Yin	1	8	9	9
5	NZL	Cushla Hume-Merry	6	3	9	9
6	FIN	Heidi Tenkanen	7	5	12	12
7	ESP	Susana Romero	4	10	14	14
8	FRA	Mathilde De Karangat	9	9	18	18
9	RUS	Alisa Kirilyuk	15	4	19	19
10	USA	Anne Haeger	8	11	19	19
11	POL	Ewa Makowska	11	12	23	23
12	ISR	Sufa Ben-Horin	17	7	24	24
13	IRL	Tiffany Brien	10	14	24	24
14	GRE	Antonia Psoma	12	13	25	25
15	GBR	Chloe Martin	13	15	28	28
16	CRO	Tajana Ganic	14	17	31	31
17	GER	Lisa Rattemeyer	19	16	35	35
18	SWE	Sara Sigvardsdotter	16	22	38	38
19	NED	Michelle Broekhuizen	20	18	38	38
20	CYP	Natasa Christodoulou	18	20	38	38
21	LAT	Anna Aile	23	19	42	42
22	ITA	Matilde Fabri	21	23	44	44
23	EST	Anne-Mari Luik	25	21	46	46
24	BEL	Sofie Belis	22	28	50	50
25	SLO	Marusa Krasevac	26	25	51	51
26	BRA	Mônica Matschinske	28	24	52	52
27	SUI	Sophie Masmejan	27	26	53	53
28	ISV	Mayumi Roller	24	31	55	55
29	TUR	Muge Tuncol	30	27	57	57
30	AHO	Philipine Van Aanholt	32	29	61	61
31	KOR	Lee Gyeongjin	31	30	61	61
32	SRB	Maja Knezevic	33	34	67	67
33	SEY	Meggy Gertrude	35	33	68	68
34	RSA	Claire Walker	37	32	69	69
35	JPN	Chiaki Yasuda	34	35	69	69
36	NOR	Natcha Uthaug	29	OCS	72	72
37	LTU	Saima Plerpaité	36	36	72	72
38	MEX	Elena Oetling	38	DNC	81	81
39	IND	Mrinalini Santhanam	39	DNC	82	82
40	ALG	Iness Benstali	DNC	DNC	86	86
40	CUB	Jaimet Ruano Vazquez	DNC	DNC	86	86
40	PAR	Ivana Daniella Cabello	DNC	DNC	86	86
		29 Boys Class
Rank	Nat	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1	AUS	Byron White	Rhys Mara	2	2	4	4
2	ARG	Germán Billoch	Gastón Cheb Terrab	4	1	5	5
3	GBR	James Peters	Edward Fitzgerald	1	5	6	6
4	NZL	Paul Snow-Hansen	Ben Goodwin	6	3	9	9
5	NED	Jason Hogendoorn	Sam Frank	5	8	13	13
6	FRA	Kevin Fischer	Glenn Gouron	3	12	15	15
7	BEL	Morgan Good	Tibbout Van Hoof	9	7	16	16
8	USA	Judge Ryan	Hans Henken	13	4	17	17
9	IRL	Ed Butler	Daniel Mc Carthy	11	6	17	17
10	FIN	Mikko Kotamies	Robin Lilius	8	11	19	19
11	SIN	Justin Xiaman Liu	Sherman Feng Yuan Cheng	10	9	19	19
12	DEN	Nikolai Kold	Lars Vilhelmsen	7	18	25	25
13	GER	Anton Berking	Simon Gerling	14	13	27	27
14	ESP	Rodenas Luis	Martinez Juan M	18	10	28	28
15	CAN	Eric Choinard	Alex Choinard	12	17	29	29
16	SWE	Johan Öjerborn	Marcus Jour	17	15	32	32
17	ITA	Ruggiero Tita	Nicolas Piccinelli	16	16	32	32
18	UAE	Alexander Buerger	Maximilian Buerger	15	23	38	38
19	BRA	Fabio Merchert Galvanese	Fernando Cardial	20	19	39	39
20	RSA	Taariq Jacobs	Neil Malan	OCS	14	40	40
21	NOR	Erik Snerlebakken	Per Kristian Frisenfeldt Horn	21	20	41	41
22	BER	Joshua Greenslade	Blake Burgess	22	22	44	44
23	JPN	Shun Mutaguchi	Takuto Mine	19	DNC	45	45
24	CRO	Domagoj Fizulic	Leon Ostrez	OCS	21	47	47
25	MEX	Federico Ortiz	Carlos Pereda	DNF	DNC	52	52
		29 Girls Class
Rank	Nat	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1	GBR	Frances Peters	Claire Lasko	1	3	4	4
2	AUS	Hannah Nattrass	Michelle Muller	4	1	5	5
3	SWE	Sara Engström	Hanna Dahlborg	2	4	6	6
4	NZL	Alexandra Maloney	Bianca Barbarich-Bacher	3	9	12	12
5	GER	Karin Marchart	Tina Marchart	7	5	12	12
6	SIN	Griselda Khng	Cecilia Rui Qi Low	5	10	15	15
7	DEN	Rie Galsgaard	Marie Thusgaard Olsen	9	6	15	15
8	USA	Julia Paxton	Karoline Gurdal	10	7	17	17
9	IRL	Alyson Rumball	Niamh O'Connel	8	11	19	19
10	NED	Annemiek Bekkering	Jeske Kisters	OCS	2	21	21
11	BRA	Martine Grael	Daniela Adler Pimentel Duarte	6	16	22	22
12	CAN	Alanna Foscarini	Alison Ludzki	15	8	23	23
13	FRA	Fanny Lumeau	Erell Rannou	12	12	24	24
14	FIN	Sinem Kurtbay	Nina Tammisto	13	15	28	28
15	BER	Haley Powell	Libby Brewin	14	14	28	28
16	ITA	Maria Ottavia Raggio	Matilde Pitanti	16	13	29	29
17	NOR	Helene Næss	Ane Gundersen	11	DNC	30	30
18	JPN	Akane Tsuruda	Eriko Tasaki	DNC	17	36	36
		RSX Boys Class
Rank	Nat	Helm	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1	CYP	Michalis Malekkides	1	1	2	2
2	GRE	Thiseas Kampas	2	3	5	5
3	GER	Oliver-Tom Schliemann	7	2	9	9
4	HKG	Ho Tsun Leung	5	4	9	9
5	FRA	Charles-Elie Nayral	3	7	10	10
6	TPE	Chang Hao	10	5	15	15
7	ISR	Ron Asulin	6	9	15	15
8	COL	Nicolas Lozano	11	6	17	17
9	ESP	Jimenez Adrian	8	12	20	20
10	DEN	Jesper Nors	9	11	20	20
11	GBR	Jacob Brubert	14	8	22	22
12	ITA	Manfredi Misuraca	12	10	22	22
13	UKR	Oleksander Zabiyakin	13	14	27	27
14	POL	Ludomil Sawicki	15	15	30	30
15	BRA	Renato Amaral	4	RAF	32	32
16	KOR	Choi Cheolhoon	18	16	34	34
17	NOR	Halvard Feragen	16	18	34	34
18	SIN	Leonard Ong	17	17	34	34
19	FIN	Timi Hellman	20	20	40	40
20	ARG	Jeremy Lopez Becker	DNC	13	41	41
21	LTU	Martynas Joudeska	22	19	41	41
22	AUS	Thomas England	21	21	42	42
23	CRO	Nikola Smoljenovic	19	DNC	47	47
24	EST	Frank Haavel	23	DNC	51	51
25	NZL	Josh Nixon	DNC	DNC	56	56
25	THA	Nakaret Wantana	DNC	DNC	56	56
25	USA	Cody Shevitz	DNC	DNC	56	56
		RSX Girls Class
Rank	Nat	Helm	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1	ITA	Laura Linares	1	1	2	2
2	GRE	Anastasia Davrou	2	2	4	4
3	POL	Maja Dziarnowska	3	4	7	7
4	BRA	Patricia Freitas	6	3	9	9
5	GBR	Isobel Hamilton	5	5	10	10
6	HKG	Hei Man Chan	4	7	11	11
7	FRA	Sybille Bosch	8	6	14	14
8	GER	Johanna Wimmer	7	9	16	16
9	NZL	Jazmine Lynch	10	8	18	18
10	ARG	Jazmín Lopez Becker	9	12	21	21
11	ISR	Lior Shimony	11	10	21	21
12	EST	Ingrid Puusta	13	11	24	24
13	NOR	Helene Berentsen	12	13	25	25
14	UKR	Ludmyla Drozd	14	14	28	28
15	DEN	Ida Sofie Thorlaksen	DNC	DNC	34	34
15	ESP	Jimenez Adrian	DNC	DNC	34	34
		Multihull Class
Rank	Nat	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1	DEN	Simon Michaelsen	Jacob Dannefer	2	3	5	5
2	GBR	James Ellis	Andrew Glover	7	1	8	8
3	SIN	Wen Chun Low	Jonathan Russel Wei Xiang Chew	6	2	8	8
4	RSA	Matthew Whitehead	Michael Ovenstone	5	4	9	9
5	AUS	Jason Waterhouse	Lisa Darmanin	3	7	10	10
6	NZL	Francisco Lardies	David Hazard	4	8	12	12
7	NED	Rob Sprij	Mathijs Pauli	9	5	14	14
8	ITA	Francesco Porro	Luca Marsaglia	8	6	14	14
9	FRA	Valentin Bellet	Romain Bellet	1	DNF	18	18
10	BEL	Arnout Victor	Klaas Victor	10	9	19	19
11	BRA	Bruno Vilela Frey	Ronyon Silva	11	DNF	28	28
12	USA	Andrew Mason	Christopher Segerblom	12	DNF	29	29
13	GER	Lena Gauthier	Charlotte Greiffenhagen	13	DNF	30	30
14	TUR	Ilber Gunduz	Teoman Unlu	DNF	DNF	34	34
14	CAN	Nick Schwenger	Amy McNeil	DNC	DNC	34	34
14	FIN	Otso Ahvonen	Robert Haapanen	DNC	DNC	34	34