It was a two-team dual in the 49erFX atop the standings heading into the final day of racing. Katharina Schwachhofer with Elena Stoltze (GER) leading Sofia Giunchiglia with Giulia Schio (ITA) by just a few points. The Italians moved into a tie with the Germans after race one of the day, but it was a dramatic moment in the second race that tipped the championship in favor of Italy.

The German pair were deemed over early at the start of the second race, and even though they went on to win that race on the water, their OCS score put the Germans into a commanding 13-point lead as they finished second in the race.

In the final race, the regatta remained in limbo. Both Italy and Germany opted for port tack options on the start, and both cleared early into great lanes on Port, with the Italians leading a big port pack. The top group was bunched together into the first downwind, but Italy played the middle of the course and rounded the leeward, go left gate, in first, with the Germans and most others following them closely.

Up the second beat, in a move reminiscent of Bart Lambriex, the multi-world-champion 49er helm, the Italians tacked across the middle of the course, opening up massive separation between the Germans and most others. But their aim was true, extending their lead to a very comfortable one. They took a 30-second lead around the final windward mark, never needing to look back. They won the championship with a 3, 2, 1 scoreline on the final day when it mattered most.

Schio commented on shore, “We were fast today and we trusted ourselves around the race course.” Giunchiglia continued, “We say the left shift at the start of the final race, and decided to lead the pack that way. It was the right call, and then we had the skills to keep everyone behind us for the rest of the race.”

The disappointed Germans finished second overall with a huge gap back to third place. A visibly downcast Schwachhofer was feeling rough when back on shore. “It’s really disappointing not to win the championship after leading all week. It was our fault about the start. We knew we were tied with the Italians, and we wanted to be ahead of them, so we pushed at the start line. But it was silly, the start wasn’t really that important on such a shifty day, and it was our mistake to push too much there.”

She continued, “Even if our race score hadn’t been disqualified, the Italians would have beaten us, but it’s hard to know, as after that moment our mindset changed, and we don’t know how it could have played out. Big congrats to the Italians, they sailed great today.” Crew Stoltze took the bright side, “it’s our first Junior World Championship medal and a big improvement for us from last year.”

The battle for Bronze also held through to the final race, where Gabriela Czapska with Hanna Rajchert (POL) completed almost as spectacular a day as the Italians to win the Bronze. Their 4, 3, 2 scoreline was punctuated by a huge performance in the last race where they were overstood on the first downwind layline but worked hard and fast to come in late, get a tight rounding and then match the Italian pair up the beat.

“This regatta was bitter-sweet for us,” said crew Rajchert. “We had hopes to win overall, as we’ve now won Bronze three times. We sailed really well through the senior season. Now we’re back at the Junior level and seeing all these talented new crews come through it is a reminder there is no time to rest in skiff sailing. We’re happy to have a great final day and secure this Bronze medal after a tough start to the week.”

For Giunchiglia and Schio this is their third Junior World Championships. The pair placed second last year, and were 18th in 2022. For the Germans, it represents a big move up from their eleventh-place finish last year.

49er
Richard Schulteis and Yoenn Bertin (MLT) secure the 2024 49er Junior World Championship in a tough test on the final day. The Maltese faced off against the 25 top U23 teams on the planet and both of their closest rivals had great days, meaning the Maltese couldn’t make any big mistakes. The wind changed today, adding to the challenge of our leaders as the stronger offshore and shiftier winds meant that efforts to cover the chasing sailors might hinder their efforts in optimizing their wind strategy.

“Today was really hard, especially because of the wind,” said Schulteis. “We could have separated from those we were fighting for overall and taken more advantage of the wind, but as we also wanted to cover them it meant we were also giving up some points to do so. It was a balance all day long, especially on the last two races.”

The two podium pairs, Francesco Karyrouz with Hamish McLaren (NZL) in second and Simon Heindl with Conrad Jakobs (GER) in third, each sailed spectacularly in the gold series to tighten the points race by race. The two teams scored 30 and 31 points, respectively, in the six-race gold fleet, doing all they could to chase the win and secure medals.

The fleet quickly congratulated Schulteis and Bertin on shore as well-deserved winners. The helm, Schulteis, is only nineteen years old, so if he finds a younger crew for those events, he could race for another three years in the junior fleet. He’s the first teenager to win the 49er Junior World title.

Another new pair, New Zealand’s Sebastian Menzies with George Lee Rush. With their top finish, they secure the 49er country trophy for New Zealand, marking the nation with the top pair of boats.

Belgium take French ground in assault on leaderboard
Arthur de Johnghe with Janne Ravelingien (BEL) attacked the final day of the 2024 Nacra 17 Junior World Championship to catapult themselves up the leaderboard into the Silver medal position. The paid nearly won all three races on the day, but had to settle for a 1, 1, 2 as the Swiss pipped them on the finish line at the last moment of the last race. Still, that ambitious performance was enough to secure a tie for second which they won on tiebreaker due to the big string of winds.

“We decided to really charge today,” said de Johnghe. “It has been a tough week, but we were improving and knew what we could do. Today we got a lot of shifts right but it was a real fight. Even on the last beat we were stuck at around eighth position and couldn’t get back to the fleet. But we were patient and got our shift when it mattered to almost finish the sweep of the day.”

Overall leaders, Kwinten and Lieselotte Borghijs (BEL) had a solid if unspectacular day, but it was easily enough to maintain their lead as the french foursome also had average days and never challenged for the lead.

Racing on the final day was perfect for the foiling Nacra 17 fleet, as the fresh wind, flat water, and shifty conditions meant teams could play around the course and be attacking or defending as they saw fit in a wide variety of modes and styles.

Next up for the Nacra 17 fleet is of course, the Olympics, followed by the 2024 European Championship in Sicily next November where the fleet will further incorporate reaching starts into the program.