49er, 49erFX, FX Open and Nacra 17 Junior World Championship 2026 in Medemblik - Day 5
by Alexia Lahoud 25 Jul 10:05 PDT
19-26 July 2026
49er, 49er Fx and Nacra 17 Junior World Championships day 5 © Klaas Wiersma
After yesterday's washout, today more than made up for it. Conditions in Medemblik were close to perfect, champagne sailing as some of the sailors called it, even if the breeze stayed shifty and gusty through the day.
Nobody seemed to mind, with plenty of smiles out on the water despite the tricky racing. Things got under way right on time at 11:00, with the 49er gold fleet racing the top 25 boats through the first day of its elimination series, and the Nacra 17 fleet out on the water alongside them. Every fleet completed its intended three races and stuck to the day's schedule, before the 49erFX, FX Open and 49er silver fleet headed out for their own racing later in the afternoon, from 13:00.
In the Nacra 17 fleet, Italy's Federico Figlia di Granara and Caterina Sedmak (ITA 46) continued to set the pace, winning two of today's three races. The pair have now finished outside the top two just twice in the whole event, and they carry a healthy lead into tomorrow's final day, when three more races are scheduled.
The one race that got away from them went to Switzerland's Marie Mazuay and Clement Guignard (SUI 446), who snuck away with a win of their own. Behind the leaders, Italy's Arto Hirsch and Sofia Borgia (ITA 76) held steady in second, and Switzerland's Andrea Aschieri and Tine Rossel (SUI 370) currently sit third. Spain's Daniel Garcia and Nora Garcia (ESP 591) and Italy's Lorenzo Sirena and Flavia Maltagliati (ITA 437), level on points with each other, are only a few points back, keeping the final podium spot wide open heading into the final day.
The 49er gold fleet produced a genuine changing of the guard. Last year's world champions, Kjell Haschen and Iven Anton Fromm (GER 182), won the final two races of the day to snatch the overall lead from Italy's Lorenzo Pezzilli and Tobia Torroni (ITA 75), bronze medalists at last year's Junior Worlds. Pezzilli and Torroni had looked close to unbeatable in the stronger breeze earlier in the week, but the calmer, shiftier air today suited Haschen and Fromm, and the two crews are separated by just a single point heading into the final three races.
There is a bigger gap back to third, where Switzerland's Pablo Ruegge and Finn Meichle now sit, exactly the spot they had been hoping for and an improvement on their fourth place finish last year. France's Hugo Revil and Karl Devaux, who finished just one point outside the podium last year, sit fourth and are pushing to go one better this time, level on points with Argentina's Maximo Videla and Tadeo Funes de Rioja in fifth.
It was a tough elimination day for Germany's Simon Heindl and Conrad Jacobs (GER 21), who had been sitting near the front all week and dropped back to seventh after a difficult run of races. Ireland's Ben O'Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain took the first win of the day and climbed ten places, from nineteenth to ninth, despite discarding a 22 from earlier in the day, and closed things out with a fourth in the last race. With three races left and a different forecast expected tomorrow, the top ten is still very much anyone's game.
Poland is running the show in the 49erFX fleet, though the order at the front has flipped. Ewa Lewandowska and Anna Zwara (POL 771) have moved into the overall lead, overtaking training partners and previous leaders Klara Sobczak and Magdalena Skornog (POL 280), who slipped to second after picking up a UFD in the day's final race. Great Britain's Karrie Clark and Felicity Brellisford (GBR 214) hold third, with Hong Kong's Emily Polson and Tiffany Mak (HKG 888) and Japan's Manase Ichihashi and Rinko Goto (JPN 717) level on points in fourth and fifth.
In the FX Open fleet, the top three held their ground once again. Switzerland's Henri Rothacher and Noah Strempfer (SUI 434) remain in front, with Samantha Gardner and Noah Nyenhuis of the United States (USA 49) second and Germany's Hanno Rix and Maximilian Reuner (GER 171) third, the same order they have held since the opening day.
Tomorrow is the final day of racing, and it is shaping up to be a dramatic one. The forecast is calling for around 12 knots from the same direction as today, though rain looks likely this time. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 17:00, provided the last of the racing and any protests are wrapped up in time.
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