Laser Radial Youth World Championship at Kieler Yacht Club - Day 3
by Laser Radial Youth World Championships 22 Aug 2018 22:01 PDT
18-25 August 2018
The Russian Valeriya Lomachenko is on rank three with 28 points after the qualification races - Laser Radial Youth World Championships 2018 © Laser Radial Youth World Championships
Clear sunshine, light winds around ten knots and choppy waters were the conditions for the sailors on the last day of the qualification races at the Laser Radial Youth Worlds in Kiel-Schilksee. Tomorrow on Thursday, the groups will be remixed and only the Gold fleet will be fighting for the title. "This is when a new regatta starts", said Francesco Viel from Italy, who is in the leading position.
Viel could defend his leading position with the places eleven and two, but was not really satisfied. "There will be new races tomorrow." He said, he did sail two good races, but not very good. "It was more difficult than yesterday." But he never lost the overview and did decide for the better side. "I did look around a lot, where the competitors are", explained Viel.
For Julian Hoffmann (Oberstdorf) it was not really a good day. In the first race he became 41, which he could take as a discard, so he will start into the Gold fleet on rank three. Between him and Francesco Viel is Guido Gallinero from Italy.
The leading female sailor Julia Buesselberg (Berlin) did have a great start in the second race of the day. On the first upwind, she could keep her position in a small leading group, where Laura Schewe (Kiel) was not far behind her. Then came the downwind. Laura Schewe did use the speed of her boat and passed the others. On the second upwind she could increase her lead even more and crossed the finish line as the first boat. "It went well on a sailing level, even those were not my favorite conditions", summarized the sailor from Altenholz. With the light winds and choppy waves it was difficult to get over them, she said. But a mistake on land did ruin a better result for her than rank 15 overall. She had forgotten to do the mandatory "Sign In". This mandatory task was invented for safety reasons and is also part of the sailing instructions. So she did get penalty points in the first race. "That is really annoying", she was struggling with the situation. But she should not lose sight of her goal to reach the top five yet. "There are still a few days left, and all can happen. "
Although Julia Buesselberg is still leading the fleet, she was not satisfied with the day. "It did not go the way I had imagined. Actually, it went quite well, but I was too slow on the downwind and did lose there." She had tried to adjust her technique to the different conditions, but that did not really work that well. Perhaps she had not taken enough risks, she stated.
Matilda Talluri from Italy is behind Julia Buesselberg. She had decided for the better side during the wind shifts and even if she is not a big fan of light winds, she did show a consistent performance in the races. "As a sailor you have to sail on a constant level in all conditions and you cannot be a specific wind type." She stayed focused and thus could get over her light nervousness - due to her position on rank two. "The position is currently not important. There will be six more races and a lot can happen." The Russian sailor Valeriya Lomatchenko is currently on rank three after the six races.
The group sizes will stay that way, but the best boats will be sailing in the Gold fleet from tomorrow on. And depending on their ranking, the male sailors will be separated into Silver, Bronze and Emerald (each group with 68 boats). In the girls' fleet, there will be only the Gold and Silver fleet with 48 boats each.
Results of the regatta can be found here.