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Giannouli and Kerkezou claim first title of Championships

Read Time: 4:00 Date: 18/07/2024

Danai Giannouli and Iakovina Kerkezou wrote themselves into the Youth Sailing World Championships history books by claiming a maiden crown at the event on Lake Garda.

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.

Skiff – 29er

Alicja Dampc and Alicja Tutkowska of Poland charged to assume pole position in a shake-up of the women’s skiff standings.

A total of 10 points on the penultimate day of racing saw them build a nine-point lead ahead of Argentinian duo Olivia Riesgo and Delfina Palazon.

Una Heinilä and Silja-Sophie Laukkanen of Finland were among the most notable performers as a bullet in the final race of the day sees them enter the final day in fifth.

“We feel very happy to be representing Finland at the Youth Sailing World Championships, it was a really tough win but we’re super happy about it.

“We didn’t have a special tactic but just to have a really fast boat speed and maintain it with lots of wind.

“We want to do our best and get a good result, hopefully a medal.”

Men’s/mixed skiff racing was postponed as Ewa Lewandowska and Krzysztof Królik go into Friday’s decider as leaders.

Formula Kite

In women’s kiteboarding, Maria Catalina Turienzo put on another strong display across five races to add three more bullets to her collection.

The Argentinian convincingly maintained her spot at the summit ahead of China’s Meijing Xiao, who fought for her first two wins of the Championships.

Turienzo is 11 points clear of the rest of the fleet while the top three also includes fellow Paris 2024 Olympian Derin Atakan of Türkiye.

In the men’s Formula Kite, Brazilian leader Lucas Pes Fonseca was unphased by a DNF in the second race of the day and hit back to claim three bullets.

Switzerland’s Gian Andrea Stragiotti trails by just three points in the silver medal position with everything to ride for on the final day of racing.

Mixed Multihull – Nacra 15

Côme Vic-Molinero and Fatima Tia opened up a five-point mixed multihull lead to break away from Italy’s Lorenza Sirena and Alice Dessy.

Both crews have gone toe-to-toe for most of the week but it was the French Nacra 15 crew who performed strongest on Thursday with two out of three victories.

Italy’s (7), 4, 4 saw them fall away slightly as Belgium’s Borghijs siblings remain two points behind the hosts for third.

The fourth and final race of the day was postponed due to low wind and will carry over into tomorrow’s decider.

Dinghy – ILCA 6

All four ICLA 6 races across men’s and women’s events were postponed due to low wind.