Despair and Dominance Define Chaotic Day

Scrappy racing in mixed up breeze kicked off the next stage of the championship as the leaders gave a masterclass in consistency while others dropped kites and places heading towards the medal series.

Almost Unbeatable

With one more day of racing left to determine who moves into Monday’s top eight medal series, it is clear that Riccardo Pianosi is on another level, extending his lead on the gold fleet to seven points. Barely slipping from his string of firsts, the Italian is dominating the European Championship as places change behind him.

“Seriously I don’t know why he’s so in charge, otherwise I’d be copying him,” said Pianosi’s training partner and teammate Lorenzo Boschetti who had a disappointing day dropping to ninth, four points out of the medal series qualifying position. “His motivation is real high. He’s the fastest in the fleet right now. Maybe he found a new way to push the Chubanga foils or the new kites. Or maybe the new foil just fits him better.”

 Despite Pianosi’s clear advantage, Cameron Meremenides of Greece has serious momentum going into the last day of the gold fleet, climbing to second overall. He has passed Max Maeder after the Singaporean was caught in a light wind jumble of kites, sailing a throwout of 11th in race two of the day.

Meremenides’ Element kites tuning partner Beniot Gomez of France was one of the only ones to win a reaching battle with Pianosi, pipping the Italian at the finish to win the day’s final race as speeds breached 30 knots.

 The silver fleet has no less of a battle with Tomas Pires De Lima of Portugal barely holding off a hard charging Karl Maeder of Switzerland by one point. 

 Britannia, and France, Rule the Waves

Five hours, five races. That was the exhausting day in the women’s fleet as the riders saw the same unavoidable potholes of light winds as the men. But two riders, Lily Young of Great Britain and France’s Lauriane Nolot, stood clear of the fray, scoring remarkably consistent finishes.

 Nolot owned the fleet for a second day in a row with a 3,1,2,1,1 scoreline brining her to within three points of the Brit.