Pes Fonseca seals men's kite as Italy dominate on final day

Brazil’s Lucas Pes Fonseca sealed the men’s Formula Kite title on a day otherwise dominated by Italians as 10 more Youth Sailing World Championships winners were crowned.

On the final day of racing on Lake Garda, Pes Fonseca entered the decider three points clear of Swiss rival Gian Andrea Stragiotti.

Despite Stragiotti’s best efforts, powering to two bullets and an overall net score of just 23, Pes Fonseca held his own to clinch victory by a single point.

Italy cruised to claim six stunning titles on home waters, which included a tense final-day Nacra 15 victory for Lorenza Sirena and Alice Dessy who clawed back a lead over France’s crew.

Poland swept up the 29er class rewards as Argentina’s Maria Catalina Turienzo secured a statement title ahead of her Paris 2024 campaign.

Formula Kite

Pes Fonseca came out on top by a single net point in the men’s Formula Kite as Stragiotti applied pressure until the very last race.

The Brazilian’s 1, 2, 3, (4) on the final day was enough to edge the overall standings by a whisker as Stragiotti secured two bullets across the same four races.

France’s Nell De Jaham secured his spot on the Formula Kite podium with an encouraging net total of 39 points.

Turienzo rounded off perfect Paris 2024 preparations with a Formula Kite title ahead of silver medallist Meijing Xiao and fellow incoming Olympian Derin Atakan, who took bronze.

The 18-year-old powered to a near-flawless week in Malcesine and added Youth Sailing World Championships gold to an already-sizable haul of accolades.

Mixed Multihull – Nacra 15

Italian duo Sirena and Dessy grabbed Nacra 15 glory following a stunning display on the deciding day of the mixed multihull.

Côme Vic-Molinero and Fatima Tia of France opened up a five-point lead on Thursday but three Italian bullets the following morning ensured Dessy and Sirena got the golden job done.

A famous tussle on Lake Garda’s fresh water across the entire week saw both crews switch places in the standings.

But Italian mettle saw France’s hopefuls take home silver as Hannelien and Sander Borghijs won bronze for a maiden medal at the Championships.

Skiff – 29er

Poland enjoyed a fruitful week in the men’s/mixed and women’s skiff as both crews claimed the 29er titles.

Alicja Dampc and Alicja Tutowska soared to pick up the women’s skiff trophy, 27 points ahead of Una Heinilä and Silja-Sophie Laukkanen of Finland and the USA’s Annie Sitzmann and Molly Bonham who took silver and bronze.

Ewa Lewandowska and Krzysztof Królik’s event went down to the wire with the pair dramatically sealing victory in the final race of the week.

They trailed Great Britain’s Finian Morris and Charlie Gran by two points going into the last race but only had eyes for the title in the final race and finished second.

Lewandowska now has two youth world titles to her name after winning the women’s skiff in Brazil last year.

“It feels amazing, wonderful,” Lewandowska said. “We couldn’t be happier that we’ve won the World Championships.

“It was tough racing with the guys, everyone is so good, it was very interesting before the last race and even the last was so crazy.”

Windsurfing – Youth iQFOiL

Carola Colasanto and Federico Pilloni completed an Italian iQFOiL clean sweep after week of windsurfing magnificence.

The pair blew away all competition with individual brilliance as a haul of bullets across the week propelled them to youth world champion status in a competitive fieet.

Sardinian Pilloni charged to a 46-point lead over nearest competitor Poland’s Igor Lewinski, who won the final race, as the USA’s Makani Andrews captured bronze.

Colasanto held to a narrower lead over Great Britain’s Darcey Shaw but the Italian still stormed to gold by nine points as Finland’s Sofia Hamalainen took bronze.

Dinghy – ILCA 6

It was double Italian gold delight again for host nation Italy in the ILCA 6 class, powering to top both the women’s and men’s podiums.

In the women’s event, Maria Vittoria Arseni held her own against Greece’s Hermionie Ghicas as the USA’s Isabella Mendoza Cabezas claimed third upon protest.

Italy’s own Arseni tallied a winning 33-point total, 13 points clear of Ghicas in the silver medal position.

In the men’s ILCA 6, Antonio Pascali was the victor following an impressive spell, holding off stiff competition from the Netherlands’ Hidde Schraffordt to take the trophy by 13 points.

Weka Bhanubandh sealed a bronze medal for Thailand at the Championships as a final-day bullet saw him climb up the standings.

Dinghy – 420

Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio sealed their two person dinghy crown in style with two bullets on the final day of racing.

Colin Postel and Theo Henry headlined another Italian-French one-two as Miguel Padron Ferrer completed the podium for bronze with 2, 4, 4.

Danai Giannouli and Iakovina Kerkezou wrapped up their title with a day to spare on the water but still raced to second in Friday’s only women’s 420 race.

Slovenia’s Ana Planinšič and Lara Božič sealed their first bullet of the Championships as Spain’s Nicola Sadler Keen and Sofía Cavaco Torres broke free from the fleet for silver.

Zeynep Caçur and Zeynep Köy edged it in the battle for the bronze medal ahead of the USA crew.