International 14 World Championship at Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy - Overall

With the 2024 Champions already crowned, the final day of racing set up a Battle Royale for the remaining Podium Places, with three boats within three points of each other.

A light Ora set up a more open course with lots of options. Glen Truswell and Ed Fitzgerald crossed the fleet at the Pin, with Archie Massey and Harvey Hillary choosing the mid-line option to protect the middle left. When the boats converged at the top of the beat, it was too close to call. That was especially the case for Massey and Hillary, who went for the cross, infringing on their rivals, and the resulting turns dropped them back into the pack. Behind, Marting Jones and Harry Kennedy rounded second, and Katie Nurton and Cam Tweedle rounded third.

With Truswell-FitzGerald looking good for second overall, the cameras moved onto the top Aussie Team of Mark Krstic and James Lanati, who rounded 6th, crucially ahead of Massey and Hillary, who were untangling themselves from their earlier penalty. In the gusty conditions, the newly crowned World Champions Shaw and Struckett sliced through the fleet down the 1st run to take 2nd at the leeward Mark. The top team from Germany, Ollie Voss and Eike Ehrig, were having their best race of the series, overtaking Nurton-Tweetle and Jones-Kennedy, who were moving into third up the following work.

Behind the mid-fleet was incredibly tight, with Peter Bromley - Hugh Maclean dicing with Alex Knight -James Clark and the Yeoman brothers. Massey-Hillary delivered one of the regatta moves at the 1st wing, Mark, going through all three boats in a move Maverik would have been proud of. That put them back on the tails of Krystic and Lanati, who they overtook for the next beat. The Australian team then straight set in pressure, pointed directly at the next Mark, and made massive gains on the fleet ahead, which had Gybe set. This enabled Krystic and Lanati to retake their rivals and put themselves back in a medal position.

Upfront, Shaw and Struckett moved into the lead to further demonstrate their dominance of this regatta. The team had given a masterclass of converting the top 5 windward mark rounding's into race wins throughout the week. Voss and Ehring had found another gear on their boat and overtook Truswell and FitzGerald for second, but that was enough for the current POW Champions to take the silver medal.

With a leeward finish, it looked like Krystic and Lanati were going to hold onto 3rd overall, but Massey & Hillary were not done yet. An early drop on the tight top reach allowed them to get over the Aussies and out-hoist them into the Gybe mark to retake 4th on the water. A twist of fate, or rather a knot in the kite sheet, caused them to fluff the final Gybe, allowing Krystic and Lanati the opportunity to retake forth in the race, which they held to the finish to take the final podium position.

Race 7 Results:

1. Shaw-Struckett - GBR
2. Voss and Ehring - GBR
3. Truswell-Fitzgerald - GER

International 14 Worlds at Lake Garda Podium - photo © Annamaria Ramy

Overall Results:

1. Shaw-Struckett - GBR
2. Truswell-Fitzgerald - GER
3. Krstic-Lanati - AUS
4. Massey Hillary - GBR
5. Jones-Kennedy - GBR
6. Bramley-Hanrahan - AUS
7. Nurton-Tweedle - GBR
8. Voss-Ehrig - GER
9. Irwin-Perry - AUS
10. Yeoman-Yeoman - GBR

1st female Helm - Katie Nurton 7th
1st female Crew - Pia Ellebeck - 46th
1st Helm Over 60 - Mark Krstic 3rd
Junior World Champions - Sam Rose and Jono Everett - 29th

Results so far can be found at www.circolovelatorbole.com/it/regatta/detail/276