Imogen Sills in action at IWA Junior, Youth and Masters World Championships, WPNSA. Pic: Paul Wyeth / RYA.

Wind Wins Out at IWA Windsurfing Worlds

28 August 2009

Breezes gusting over 40 knots made racing an impossibility on day five of the 2009 IWA Junior, Youth and Masters World Championships at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA).

Although the RYA Events-run Championship has basked in glorious sunshine all day today (Friday 28 August), the average wind speed rarely dropping below 30 knots meant the sailors were consigned to the shore before the call was made to abandon racing at around 3pm.

It means that the race for the 2009 IWA Junior, Youth and Masters World Championships titles go down to the wire with all medal positions being decided on what is set to be a thrilling final day of racing tomorrow.

Britons currently head the pack in three of the six Championship title races.

Sam Sills leads the Techno boys’ Under 17s contest by seven points, Kieran Martin boasts a six-point advantage at the top of the boys’ Under 15 leaderboard and Sills’ identical twin sisters Imogen and Saskia are locked in a head-to-head battle for the girls’ Under 15 crown, Imogen currently just a point ahead of her sister in first place.

Italy’s Veronica Fanciulli has a nine-point lead in the girls’ Under 17 competition meanwhile Olivier Pinlou, one of four Frenchmen nestled in the top five placings, is in pole position in the Raceboard Youth division. Britain’s newly-crowned RS:X Youth World Champion Izzy Hamilton remains the top ranked female.

With three races still required before the second discard kicks in for the Raceboard Masters, Joao Rodrigues’ (POR) position at the head of fleet looks marginally more comfortable as the biggest threat to his title challenge, Nikos Kaklamanakis (GRE), still needs to lose one more Did Not Compete (DNC) score to be in with the chance of toppling Rodrigues from the perch on which he has sat all week.

Tom Naylor (GBR) in fourth overall is the highest placed Grand Master, Jean Asia (FRA) in ninth the highest ranked Veteran and Annette Kent (GBR) in 20th the top female.

A change to the Sailing Instructions means that racing is scheduled to resume at 9.25am tomorrow with three races planned for all classes.

The IWA Junior, Youth and Masters Worlds is the first of three back-to-back World Class events being run by the RYA, supported by UK Sport, being hosted at WPNSA over the next month with the RS:X World Championships taking place the week immediately following the IWA Worlds before the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta welcomes the cream of the World’s Olympic Classes sailors from 14 – 19 September.

To follow all the action from WPNSA visit www.ryaracingevents.org.uk