Day 3 saw some riveting Gold fleet racing! A longer starting line, a slalom finish and lighter wind, definitely lifted the drama as the riders took things up a level! The race committee decided to switch things up today, choosing to run a slalom-finish course, opening the door for multiple leader changes throughout the duration of the race. Unfortunately the wind was not there to stay for the duration of the day, so only three of todays scheduled four races were completed, although the race committee attempted to run the fourth later in the day.
French rider Chloe Revil set the tone of the day, with an extraordinary port start, crossing the girls' fleet with plenty of room to spare. This inspired multiple port start action, some successful and some unsuccessful! Riccardo Pianosi and Jis Van Hees were joined by up and coming Swiss youth talent Gianandrea Stragiotti and Karl Maeder for another comfy port start! "I saw it from the beginning already that it was pin end favoured, so I made the decision to fully commit!" says Karl Maeder, very content with his decision, which paid off delivering an impressive 5th place finish in Gold fleet for the fast progressing young rider.
Heloise Pegourie (FRA) delivered the first bullet of the day for the girls fleet but finished fourth in the other two races. "Today was very hard from me I didn't make the right choices and in this light wind is unforgiving. Tomorrow I will erase all my mistakes and keep the lead" she said with determination. Compatriot Lysa Caval, who claimed the second bullet of the day, says "It was a really good race, I finished first! I was a bit hard because the wind was dying". The young rider from France explains the stresses of leading races and being the one to make difficult layline calls. "Before the second leeward mark, I was leading the race, but I was under the layline so I had to gybe two times... but I finished first, so I'm really happy".
Magda Woyciechowska (POL) made a series of good calls throughout the complicated day, resulting in an impressively consistent scoreline. She was happy to take the final bullet of the day: "the conditions were really tricky. At first it seemed like we had enough wind so everyone took their 15s and we all went out. But then the wind dropped to 6knts, so the next two races were really in no wind conditions. To be honest I think I made all good decisions today and it went pretty well for me." The Polish rider was happy with her tactics today, managing two clean port starts.
Italy's Riccardo Pianosi put a spanner in the works for Max Maeder maintaining an otherwise perfect scoreline. The Italian rider scored one of today's bullets, reminiscent of his Youth European triumph against Huang earlier in the year, while Qibin Huang (CHN) showed impeccable consistency with three consecutive 2nd places. "My day was excellent. I'm achieving the goals that I wanted to keep me in the 2nd place in Gold fleet; avoiding any fighting and tangling, just be safe. The goal is to go directly to the final without any energy lost in these two days and to avoid wasting energy in the semi-final. So far, so good, I'm sticking to the plan!" said the young Chinese.
After three races, riders were sent back to shore due to light and unstable conditions. Later in the day, the breeze picked up a bit and riders took to the water to attempt one final race but the wind didn't stay long enough. "In the last race I was just one step away from my first bullet in the Gold fleet, but they cancelled the race, it was unlucky " said Huang, wishing the wind had stayed a few minutes longer.
Racing continues tomorrow, to determine who will be sailing in the medal series on Sunday. Action on both days will be broadcasted live through the IKA channels.
1. Maximilian Maeder SGP 8 p
2. Qibin Huang CHN 10 p
3. Ricardo Pianosi ITA 14 p
1. Heloise Pegourie FRA 15 p
2. Magdalena Woyciechowska POL 17 p
3. Lysa Caval FRA 18 p