It’s already summertime down here in the south of Sardinia! Many countries are only just coming out of winter hibernation, so what a pleasant surprise for the 270 competitors to find themselves sailing the beautiful turquoise waters off Cagliari under a cloudless sunny blue sky! The immense bay here is 10km wide and surrounded by hills, generating near-perfect conditions with a steady thermal wind. On Monday, during the training races, the tone was set with a leg-stretching 16 – 18 knots registering on the wind speed meters.Tuesday 19th April. The first real racing started in a medium-strength un-stable wind testing all the riders’ nerves. Three rounds of racing were run in quick succession as the wind gradually dropped. In the light winds the first leader boards began to take shape in all the age classes.
In the U13s class it’s German rider Moritz Schleicher who’s making an early showing, followed by the Italian rider Luca Pacchiotti. The top ranked girl rider (in U13s girls and boys race together) is also Italian – Medea Marisa Falcioni.
In the U15s Boys, the Israeli team sent by their national federation had a great opening day double with Omer Shemesh followed by Adam Koussevitzky in second and the Italian Blasco Aronica third, a Cagliari native riding on his home patch.
In U15 Girls there’s already a great duel taking place between Turkey’s Ada Tan and Spain’s Andrea Sira Martinez Mira, currently lying first and second.
In the U17s Boys, first day honours went to the Greek and Cypriot teams with Petros Kontarinis and Vasilis Charalambous lying first and second respectively, but the Italian Guilio Orlandi is lurking not far behind…
In the U17s Girls, the home Italian team are leading the dance with Theresa Medde winning all three races. She’s followed by compatriot Giula Vitali and the Czech rider Alexandra Lojinova.
Good news too for Italy in the Techno Plus Men’s class, with leader Giorgio Falqui Cao putting his local knowledge to good use, followed by Cypriot Lakovos Christofidis and Greece’s Grigorios Stathopoulos.
In Techno Plus Women, the big Italian contingent swept the first day board with Angelina Medde, leading ahead of the reigning Italian Champion Anita Soncini and Veronica Poledrini.
After 3 rounds of racing it’s great to see such a great spread and balance between the teams that have come to sunny Cagliari from 18 different countries. Techno293 has proven to be popular in clubs all over Europe for enjoying the collective spirit on and off the water. It’s already looking like another unforgettable week…
3 or 4 more rounds of exciting competition to look forward to on race day 2.
