A strong start for the 2015 Techno293 World Championships in Cagliari, with three races completed for all fleets in less than 4 hours. And an even stronger start for France, Italy and Israel: these three big teams confirmed their medal ambitions from the first day of race.[more]With the help of a 10-12 knots breeze from South-East, the Race Committee started on schedule and did a good job at running the show, managing 334 competitors on two courses and bringing everybody ashore before 2 p.m. – not too late for a good plate of pasta.
In the Youth girls fleet, we are once again ready to watch a fight between two great rivals – Katy Spychakov from Israel and Italian Giorgia Speciale. Katy is leading after the first day, but she must remember her opponent’s late comeback at the European Championships in Liepaja, not many weeks ago. Giorgia had the final say in Latvia, winning the gold by two points. This is a different event though, and today Katy closed first in all three races. “I was hoping fot a stronger wind,” she said at the end, “the kind we had at times during the two weeks of training I spent in Cagliari before the Worlds. It was a good start, anyway. Today I managed to keep Georgia behind me but I know that it will be a long and difficult race.” Also because another Italian could step in: Enrica Schirru is from Cagliari, she knows these waters very well and she confirmed it with a solid 3-3-3 today.
In the Youth boys fleet the French are strong once again. Don’t look for the 2014 U15 gold medal Tom Arnoux at the top, for now: he closed the day with an almost perfect 2-1 but because of an OCS in the first race he has to give way to Mateo Dussarps (2-1-2) and Florian Salette (1-3-3), for now. A discard tomorrow will bring him right back in the fight. Daniele Gallo from Italy is in third position overall. “Wind was perfect today,” said Daniele. “I had been in Cagliari years ago but I didn’t remember such a fun race course. I’m sure it will be a great Championship.”
The Italians, French and Israelis also had a positive day in the U15 fleets, with FRA 946 Heloise Macquaert winning all her races in the girls’ fleet. “I had some good starts and that helped to control the race,” said Heloise. ISR 250 Bar Navri is leading among the boys, ahead of Simone Montanucci and Giorgio Stancampiano of Italy. Leonidas Tsortanidis of Greece (22-2-2) and Fabien Pianazza of France (RET-1-1) had a difficult start but both remain strong medal contenders.
Another perfect score for the opening day in the Plus men fleet. Michele Cittadini’s 1-1-1 ahead of JPN 400 Juta Mori confirmed that the representative of the host club (Windsurfing Club Cagliari) goes for another medal – he was third U15 in Martigues in 2010 and third U17 in Medemblik two years later. In the women fleet, Lucie Pianazza is still the safest bet, even if she didn’t start exactly as planned (DNC-1-1). FRA 889 Jeanne Penfornis (1-2-2) leads the group for now, followed by Italian Elena Vacca (3-3-3) and Momoka Hara from Japan.
On Tuesday the day will start early: the Leaders Lycra Ceremony, for the best three athletes of each fleet, is scheduled for 8:45. First possible start at 10:00 but we expect lighter winds, which means probably just two races for each fleet. The T293 Youth girls and Plus women will be tracked.
