The 2022 World Championships have crowned its new champions in the time-honoured fashion ! The Cypriot Sailing Federation assured that this would be a memorable week and the event ended with a magnificent closing ceremony (watch the video!).
Here’s a re-cap of the week’s racing to help you understand how the podium spots were decided in all the different series.
After a windless opening day, the three rounds of racing on the second day in very light wind conditions motivated the whole fleet and allowed the best riders to move towards the top of their respective rankings. Thursday was a tricky day in even lighter winds, in some ways a bit of a lottery, temporarily scrambling the leader boards from the previous day. On Friday the wind increased marginally, enough to re-establish some “order” in the rankings with the better riders in each series rising up again. The final day of racing, still in very light conditions, confirmed the results and delivered us our new champions in each series.
The difficult light conditions in no way spoiled the great ambience at these World Championships and the riders very much appreciated the fast response of the race committee in getting racing started quickly when conditions allowed. The “summer” weather, a typical Techno friendly atmosphere on the beach, and a mass swim in the 23C water (!) at the end all helped ensure that the week of high-quality technical racing was a total success !
Techno 293 OD moved out of its comfort zone a few years ago with the arrival of foil boarding on the scene, leading to worries for the future of the class. But this World Championships has shown that there has been no drop off in its pulling-power. Techno 293 remains THE unrivalled best board for learning to race and progressing your level. Coaches from many of the countries present in Limassol were all agreed on the advantages of Techno 293 for learning to race in competition, learning to steer a good course, how to hit the start line, before moving on to foil boarding later for those wanting to do so. All the riders present in Limassol will go home with a week of great memories, dozens of new entries in their smartphone directories, and motivated to be on the start line for more racing together as soon as possible !
Rendez-vous for all concerned in Torbole, Italy, next April for the 2023 European Championships !
RESULTS
You can find all the results and rankings for every race that was run on the event website and follow the progress of the medal winners from this week that will live long in the memories of everyone who took part.
U13. This, the category for the youngest riders and which is proving incredibly popular, stood out for the great sailing and racing skills (yes, already !) they demonstrated. In the rankings, Germany’s Moritz Schleicher confirmed his good form and victory in Cagliari with consistently good finishes in all the races. He finished ahead of Poland’s Jan Serafinski-Melsztynski and Israel’s Gil Shtub.
U15 Boys. After making a fast start and grabbing the early lead, Israeli Omer Shemesh left no chance for the chasing group and deservedly took the 2022 title. He was followed by team-mate Adam Koussevitzky and Italy’s Pierluigi Caproni
U15 Girls. The same countries occupied the podium spots as in the boys category, with Israel’s Naama Palatnik taking the victory. Italy’s Medea Marisa Falcioni finished second with Israel’s Yael Merav Hadash third. Another reminder, if we needed it, of the great strength in depth of the young Israeli team.
U17 Boys. In what is without fail the biggest category in the Techno class, the Spanish team showed its strength this year, with their riders Bruno Bárbara and Arturo Arauz García taking first and second places respectively. Japan’s Shuhei Oyamada finished third.
U17 Girls. More success for the Spanish team with victory going to Azul Sanchez Vallejo. But the northern countries put up a good fight with the Czech Nicol Ricanova second and Poland’s Linda Falkiewicz third.
Techno Plus Boys. Thanks to a great training programme and regatta circuit organised by universities in Japan, the very competitive Japanese team here in Limassol blocked out the podium places from start to end ! Top spot went to Takumi Kuragano followed by Taisei Okamoto and Shinnosuke Naito.
Techno Plus Girls. Similar story and similar result with victory going to Japan’s Shino Kitahara ahead of team-mate Chino Motoki and Italy’s Angelina Medde.
Congratulations to all our new World Champions !
Photos, Videos and results on the event website – https://worlds2022.techno293.org/