Giannouli and Kerkezou claim first title of Youth Sailing World Championships

Greece’s women’s 420 crew were in fine form on the fresh water all week and wrapped up their first title at the Championships with a day to spare.

The 2023 European champions turned Brazilian bronze at last year’s event to Italian gold with four bullets in eight races and romped to the top of the podium in race eight of nine.

Elsewhere Federico Pilloni and Carola Colasanto set themselves up for an Italian clean iQFOiL sweep as low wind in the latter stages of the day postponed racing across classes.

Dinghy – 420

Giannouli and Kerkezou’s business-as-usual approach saw them become the first sailors to be crowned world champions on Lake Garda.

The Greek crew upgraded last year’s medal thanks to a brilliant display of skill, precision and lightning-quick starts.

The European silver medallists led from the start and wrapped up victory with one race to spare, which they will compete in on Friday as champions.

“We had a really good start so then it was really easy to be first, we really enjoyed it,” Kerkezou said.

It will be a battle for the remainder of the podium as Esther Rodenhausen and Luisa Becker of Germany in second are separated from three other crews by just one point.

All men’s/mixed two person dinghy racing will carry over into tomorrow after racing was postponed.

Windsurfing – Youth iQFOiL

Pilloni soared to within touching distance of the iQFOiL crown on a bumper morning of windsurfing.

Low winds postponed Wednesday’s racing in the men’s and women’s event but the Italian was undeterred by rescheduling and claimed four out of five bullets for an almost perfect clean sweep.

The dominant performance saw him extend his overall lead to 43 points ahead of the USA’s Makani Andrews and Spanish talent Ramon Villalonga.

“Even in the first few days I wasn’t into the rhythm and now it’s becoming better and better as the competition goes on,” he said.

“It’s been a great experience and the level is just getting higher.”

The women’s iQFOiL painted a similar picture as Italy’s Colasanto cruised to a clean five-bullet sweep ahead of Great Britain’s Darcey Shaw.

Colasanto’s lead stands at eight points as Finland’s Sofia Hamalainen and Czechia’s Nela Sadílková set up a battle for bronze.