Frantic finish as 2016 Para World Sailing champions are crowned
May 28(29), 2016
The 2016 Para World Sailing Championships came to a breathtaking finale in Medemblik, the Netherlands as the final race of the championships decided the medals in the Sonar fleet.
There were points cushions in both the SKUD18 for Poland's Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki and in the 2.4 Norlin OD for Germany's Heiko Kroeger heading in to the last day of racing and both held on to win gold. The Sonar was a different matter with gold switching hands throughout a thrilling final race.
Sonar
Arguably the most exciting race of the day was in the Sonar fleet as the gold medal changed hands continuously throughout. Norway's Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Kristiansen took a bullet in the first race of the day to bunch the top four together, only separated by six points going in to the final race. The battle was on.
The final race started with USA on top, but they fell behind early and were down on the predictive rankings. Australia and Great Britain moved ahead and they changed top position on the predictive. Throw in Norway who moved up the fleet. Then USA came back. The top four on the leader board were the top four on the course fighting it out.
Great Britain's John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas took the bullet, but only just from Australia's Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden. The Britons had to wait and see if Norway could do them a favour and beat the American's to the line. They couldn't. USA's Alphonsus Doerr, Bradley Kendell and Hugh Freund had done it, they were world champions.
Describing the race, Kendall said, "The last race of the day, last race of the regatta, we knew who we had to cover and we were happy with our start, we knew where they were. The first shift we actually didn't sail to the right side that we wanted to and we had to fight our way back, but we did that.”
With four team's vying for the medals in such a close contest, Kendall was happy to get the job done, "This world championship was a very tight regatta. The world's best were here and we are so happy with what we have done and where we are at right now.”
Where they are right now is on the top of the podium and 2016 Para World Sailing Champions with 26 points.
With the final bullet of the championships, John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas took the silver medal on 27 points with Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden taking the bronze on 28.
Sonar Fleet - Photos Copyright Sander van der Borch
2.4 Norlin OD
The 2.4 Norlin OD world champion, Germany's Heiko Kroeger may have won gold but did not make it easy for himself in the final race of the championships.
Despite taking a bullet in the first race to increase his lead at the top, he then had to deal with a coming together with another competitor which dropped him back in to tactical mode searching for his closest rivals. Talking of the final race, Kroeger said "I had a crash with Dee Smith (USA) rounding the second mark and I had to do a 720 and that dropped me to around fifth. But it was ok as Matt [Bugg] was a few places behind me and Damien [Seguin] wasn't too far ahead.”
Kroeger dropped back further still, but even though he crossed the final finish line in 11th position, he did cross it as the world champion with a five-point lead over former champion Damien Seguin (FRA). Kroeger regains the 2.4 Norlin OD world title he won in 2014.
A deflated Seguin had a disappointing eighth in the first race but followed that with a second. The gap to Kroeger was a step too far, but those results meant he had overhauled Australia's Matt Bugg who had a third and a discarded 14th. Luckily for Bugg, he had enough of a cushion over the current Paralympic champion Helena Lucas (GBR) to keep the bronze medal.
Reflecting on the championship, Kroeger said, "It was tough racing here. I had some good races and some not so good races which made it tight but I'm really happy I worked it out and it's great to win.”
It did work out for the German and he now goes in to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games as world champion. A calm, measured and realistic Kroeger doesn't see being champion going in to the summer showpiece as a big advantage though, just another day at the office, "I guess it's good to go Rio as world champion and not fourth or fifth,” he says with a wry smile.
Kroeger wins the gold medal with 32 points, Seguin takes silver with 37 points and Matt Bugg finishes the championship with a bronze medal on 42 points. Taking the final bullet of the championship was Italy's Antonio Squizzato.
SKUD18
With the world title almost certainly wrapped up the previous day, Poland's Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki just had to stay out of trouble and continue as they had done all regatta with their high, consistent finishes. With a third and a fourth, Gibes and Cichocki finally sealed the win and made it official with 18 points.
The pair have been quiet all week when they have been asked about their chances, but once they came ashore as gold medallists they were quiet for another reason, they simply had no words. Gibes simply repeated herself over again, "I cannot believe we won. I really cannot believe it. I feel so excited that we won the world championship.” Her team mate Cichocki was filled with emotion and could barely speak either saying, "My heart is double now. It's an unbelievable feeling. I am so proud.”
With Gibes and Cichocki out in front on the leader board, there was still a fight for the silver and bronze medals and also other pressing issues to resolve, Paralympic selection.
In the fight for medals, Great Britain's Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell took the silver medal following a lengthy protest hearing that involved their medal rivals, former world champions, Australia's Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch.
Initially taking two bullets, the Australian's thought they had secured silver, but after a protest from the first race of the day they had one wiped off which promoted the Britons into first place in that race and in turn cemented the silver medal for Rickham and Birrell.
The other prize on offer was Rio 2016 Paralympic selection and Fitzgibbon and Tesch will have done their selection chances no harm by taking home a bronze medal from the championships with their selection rivals Amethyst Barnbrook and Brett Pearce finishing in sixth overall.
USA selection was also on offer in Medemblik. Sarah Skeels and Cindy Walker finished in tenth and Ryan Porteous and Maureen Mckinnon-Tucker finished in 11th. The selection process took in to account this Para World Sailing Championships and last year's in Melbourne, Australia and with close finishes in both regattas the selection is a tight one to call for a place at Rio 2016.
In the final big regatta for the three Paralympic classes before the Rio 2016 Sailing Competition new champions were crowned and go in to the summer showpiece on top of the class. With a tight field and top class athletes in Medemblik, the Netherlands it was a great advertisement of what is set to come from the first South American Games in September.
By Richard Aspland - World Sailing
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Para World Sailing Championship title within touching distance for Polish
Friday 27 May 2016
On the penultimate day of racing at the 2016 Para World Sailing Championships in Medemblik, the Netherlands, Poland's Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki took a massive step closer to being the next SKUD18 world champions.
While the Sonar and 2.4 Norlin OD fleets remain close, the SKUD18 has been torn apart by a rampant Polish team. Slowly clocking up results in the top three all regatta, Gibes and Cichocki hit the competition hard with a perfect double bullet day to be the stand out performers in the class.
SKUD18
Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki took two first places from two races in the SKUD18 to take a healthy 12-point lead in to the final day over nearest rivals Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) and Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS).
With consistent sailing all regatta Gibes and Cichocki have quietly gone about their business, but current world champion Tesch has figured out why they are so far in front of the rest of the fleet, "All of us are so busy fighting each other and Poland are just out on the water enjoying themselves having a great ol' time.”
Tesch, with helm Fitzgibbon, has certainly been fighting her team mates and training partners Amethyst Barnbrook and Brett Pearce for Australian national selection. Currently ahead, Tesch may have to concede her world championship title to the Polish team, but Paralympic Games selection should help ease that blow.
Even if Tesch does lose her title, she is as gracious as ever in her assessment of her rivals and speaks in glowing terms of the champions elect, "They have had an absolute cracker of a regatta. It's the last big event before the Paralympic Games and this guy [Cichocki] has just come out of the woodwork. He is such a gentleman and such a beautiful sailor as well.”
Gibes and Cichocki approached this regatta with the aim of having fun and not thinking about being world champions. They will both have to start thinking about it at some point with the lead they take in to the final day, but still, Cichocki resists, "There are still two more races and we will focus on them. In sailing anything can happen.”
True, anything can happen in sailing, but barring a total disaster it is hard to look past the Polish team winning, especially in their current form. Reflecting on his two bullets, a seemingly always relaxed Cichocki said, "We thought we could get some good places, but today was really nice for us. We had good boat speed and we are still enjoying our time on the water.”
If they are enjoying their time on the water right now, then tomorrow they could be enjoying their time off it as well when they pick up a medal, more than likely the gold.
Seemingly fighting for the silver medal, Rickham and Birrell and Fitzgibbon and Tesch both scored a 2, 3 on the day and go in to the final race day equal on points. With Rickham and Birrell already selected to represent Great Britain at the Paralympics they can solely focus on their final day racing while Fitzgibbon and Tesch have to think about their national selection battle, something which could tip the balance in favour of the Britons.
Poland's Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki
2.4 Norlin OD
With a seven point advantage over the rest of the fleet, Germany's Heiko Kroeger can also start thinking about gold, but only just. Yet again Kroeger posted a 1,2 on the day, however, with a tenth and a discarded 20th earlier in the regatta the German can ill afford another low finish with a top class field trying to hunt him down.
Sitting in wait behind Kroeger is current world champion, France's Damien Seguin. It was a day of mixed fortunes for Seguin as he took a bullet and a discarded 11th to sit on 27 points to Kroeger's 20.
Talking about his races Seguin said, "A very bad one and a good one. I know I am good when it is above 10 knots and the first race was a very light one. I made a lot of mistakes, but that's the game. It's not over yet.”
It certainly isn't over yet for the Frenchman, and a determined and defiant Seguin will fight until the end to hold on to his title, "He [Kroeger] has had a really bad result earlier on in the regatta, a 20th, so there is hope. For me, I just have to hope it's a really windy day over 10 knots. Both together, anything can happen.”
Another sailor hoping anything can happen is Australia's Matt Bugg. Scoring a 4,8 for the day Bugg goes in to the final races holding bronze medal position on 29 points.
Sitting in fourth on 36 points is London 2012 Paralympic gold medallist, Great Britain's Helena Lucas. The Briton would have hoped to score better than the 3,10 she did but as current Paralympic champion she knows she has the pedigree to climb in to the medal positions come the end of the regatta.
USA's Dee Smith in fifth overall and Norway's Bjornar Erikstad in sixth will still have ambitions of taking a world championship medal as they are also within touching distance of the bronze.
Sonar
The top of the Sonar fleet remains tight with USA's Alphonsus Doerr, Bradley Kendell and Hugh Freund leading the way thanks to a bullet and a second place on day 4.
The American's lead on 19 points with second place occupied by Great Britain's John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas on 23 points. The two teams seem to be trading first and second on the leader board race to race and day to day, but with the Britons scoring a 2,7 the pendulum seems to have swung in the American's favour heading in to the final day of racing.
Dissecting the races for the American's was trimmer Kendall, "Today's good performance began with our starting. We found our correct timing, and found our spot both times. We accelerated at the right time as well.
"On the first race, it was all about sailing our own race. We were hitting all the shifts and had a clear lane all the way through. I was just telling the guys that we were sailing smart, and to keep it going.”
With a bullet in race one the American's began to think tactics for the championships as a whole, with one eye on their rivals, as Kendall explains, "We had a pretty good comeback in the second race. We had to cover the Germans and British since they were close to us overall. We stayed with who we had to, and pounced at the end to take second.”
Kendall may have been thinking about the Germans and the British, but he will know also have to factor in the Australian team of Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden. While the American's were covering to take second, the Aussies took the second bullet of the day. That added to a fifth and it moves the team up to third overall sitting just one point behind the British team.
Still in medal contention are Germany's Lasse Klotzing, Jens Kroker and Siegmund Mainka who will be disappointed with a third and a discarded eighth. Norway's Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Kristiansen also stay within touching distance with a 4,6. The German team are in fourth overall on 26 points and the Norwegian's are fifth on 28.
All three of the Paralympic fleets finish their Para World Sailing Championships with two races on the final day of competition. While Poland's SKUD18 team can see a title within their grasp, the other two classes are set to come down to the wire.
The 2.4 Norlin OD will be decided first from the International Sailing Center Medemblik as they begin racing at 10.00 local time. The Sonars commence racing at 12.30 local time and SKUD18 at 13.00 local.
By Richard Aspland - World Sailing
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Polish lessons for all in the Para Worlds SKUD18
Thursday 26 May 2016
On day three of the 2016 Para World Sailing Championships the top of the leader boards tightened up as the discards came in to play in Medemblik, the Netherlands.
Light winds kept the fleets ashore as postponements delayed racing across the three Paralympic classes, but when racing began and the discards were applied small splinter groups seemed to pull away at the top of each fleet, with one team in particular even impressing some current world champions.
SKUD18
The team that seem to have peaked at the right time and maintain their position at the top of the SKUD18 fleet are Poland's Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki who yet again had a solid day on the water. The pair scored a third in the first race of the day and a fourth in the second which they now discard. Discarding a fourth goes to show how well the Polish team have been doing in Medemblik in what is a tight, competitive field.
With Gibes and Cichocki on 10 points, following behind is a group of six teams bunched together with only three points separating second to seventh.
Currently in second position are Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS). The regatta hasn't gone quite as the current world champions would have planned, but being the seasoned professional that Tesch is she knows that lessons can be learned from every experience, "We had a much better day on the water today, thank goodness. We dug deep and it’s quite exciting to come back after a few disasters. We learn a lot when we lose and we have a lot to improve on when we win.”
An effervescent Tesch even got excited thinking about how close the competition is becoming, "It's good to see how tight the fleet is getting. The start is getting messy out there which is great and very challenging.”
On shore you can see the camaraderie between the sailors and Tesch is more than happy to compliment a rival, even if they could be taking their world championship title from her if they continue in this rich vein of form, "I love the Polish guys [Gibes and Cichocki]. They are really great guys and really good sailors. At the moment they are teaching the SKUD fleet how we should be sailing.”
It would seem that nothing can get this Aussie down, the thrill of competition even spilling over in to the national battle for selection she has with counterparts Amethyst Barnbrook and Brett Pearce, "It's amazingly exciting. We are so close and even the finish today we only managed to beat them by a spinnaker pole. It is definitely getting exciting for selection.”
Fitzgibbon and Tesch took a bullet and second place today to sit in second overall with their rivals Barnbrook and Brett taking a third and fourth to hold sixth. Both teams are still in the mix for a medal and the national selection could go right down to the wire.
Despite an eighth and a discarded 11, Great Britain's Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell are in third on 19 points, tied with John McRoberts and Jackie Gay (CAN) who scored a 2,6.
Poland's Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki
2.4 Norlin OD
It's also tight at the top of the 2.4 Norlin OD with Heiko Kroeger (GER) and Matt Bugg (AUS) on 17 points and current world champion Damien Seguin (FRA) in third on 18.
Despite leading the fleet, it was another up and down day for Kroeger as he scored a second and tenth place, a place he has to count due to an earlier 20th place finish. The German believes that the tricky wind on the Ijsselmeer just hasn't been playing fair with him and the rest of the fleet over the past few days, "It's tough to sail here. You don't see the wind shifts or when it's coming, and that is a problem.”
Kroeger did get in the good graces of the wind gods in race one of the day and also the beginning of the second, but that's where his luck stopped, "The first race was good today. I got a second. I was fast and a little bit clever. In the second race I had a brilliant start and at the pin end I was leading with Helena Lucas (GBR). She tacked away about 20 seconds earlier than me and that was it. She was leading and I got caught out and about eight boats got me.”
As Kroeger said, Great Britain's Helena Lucas tacked at the right time and got a bullet in the first race, add a third place to that and it made for a really good day for the British sailor.
Giving her thoughts on the battle at the top, Lucas said, "I think it's been completely thrown wide open. Certainly for the first three. Matt's been really consistent, Damien's had his first big score on the board, Heiko had a great first race but not so great in the second.”
There may be three out in front at the moment, but not for much longer if Lucas gets her way, "The door's wide open but hopefully I'm chipping my way back in and hopefully by the end of the week I'll have reappeared in the top three without anyone realising.”
Sitting in fourth on 23 points, Lucas is definitely in position to sneak up the leader board and one thing she had in the day's races will get her where she wants to be, "Speed was the massive one today. I had really good speed. That obviously massively helped because it sort of seemed a bit of a one way track so it was more of a speed race and if you had good pace it could get you out of a lot of trouble.”
With Lucas taking one of the bullets on offer, the second went to USA's Dee Smith which helped him move up the leader board to sit in sixth. The American had some damage to his boat on day one of the championships so a bullet will be a welcome relief and show that he is back in the mix.
Sonar
It was a long wait for the Sonar fleet before they could get out on the water to do some racing due to the postponements in the other fleets, but they stayed on schedule with another two races in the bag.
The first race was won by Norway's Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Kristiansen. The team followed that up with a fifth in the second race to leave them in fourth on the leader board with 18 points.
Just above the Norwegian's in third place are the German team of Lasse Klotzing, Jens Kroker and Siegmund Mainka who are still getting to grips with a new team dynamic.
Despite the team being relatively new, the German's scored a 2,4 for the day, which pleased former helm turned trimmer Kroker, "Our day went excellently well up until the last downwind beat where we were leading the pack and then lost three boats on the downwind due to a wind pressure system we just couldn't reach. But I think our strategy and tactics today were excellent and as a new team we are very, very happy.”
Stepping in to the Sonar from the 2.4 Norlin OD, Klotzing took over helm duty from Kroker and hasn't had a great deal of time in the boat, but Kroker doesn't think the lack of time is an issue, "We have Lasse now at the helm who brings a lot of experience and I think we are probably better as a unit now with everyone's collective experience contributing to the team.”
There could be only one question for helm Klotzing, and thinking about it, only one answer which he gives with a laugh, "The most difficult part is the communication. I've never talked before in the 2.4 as I had no one to talk to, but now I have to tell other people my thoughts and what I feel on the rudder. But we have got off to a good start and we will only get better.”
With every day and every race the team gain experience together and to be hovering around the medals isn't such a bad place to be for any team, never mind a new one.
Currently above the German's are 2015 world champions, Great Britain's John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas who took a bullet and a fourth to move back to the top of the leader board on 14 points. In second are Alphonsus Doerr, Bradley Kendell and Hugh Freund (USA) who are tied on 16 points with the German team with a second and discarded tenth for the day.
With the discards coming in to play the positions have jumped around a lot from day two, but the usual suspects are starting to bunch together at the top of each fleet and the next few days will be very interesting in the chase for a world championship title.
Racing commences on Friday 27 May with the Sonar class first to launch and race at 10.30 local time. The SKUD18's start racing at 11.00 local time and the 2.4 Norlin OD set to start at 13.00 local out of the International Regatta Center Medemblik.
By Richard Aspland - World Sailing
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Light winds of Medemblik constrains consistency at the Para Worlds
Wednesday 25 May 2016
For Day two of 2016 Para World Sailing Championships, Medemblik, the Netherlands offered up a complete contrast from day one with very light wind that caused a shake-up in results across all Paralympic fleets.
With high winds on day one, on day two there were ups and downs, highs and lows with only a chosen few keeping consistency high at the top of their fleet in the light breeze on the Ijsselmeer. Whether you were a world champion, Paralympic medallist or Sailing World Cup winner it didn't seem to matter today, inconsistency was coming for you.
Sonar
It was anyone's guess who would finish in what position for the Sonar as there was a mix of results from race one and race two throughout the fleet and an upturn in fortunes from the day one winds.
Australia's Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden scored a 12,4. France's Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flageul and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary scored a 13,8. Day one leaders, Great Britain's John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas could only post two seventh placed finishes, finishes that drops them down to second overall.
It was down to Lasse Klotzing, Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka (GER) and Alphonsus Doerr, Bradley Kendell and Hugh Freund (USA) to restore some order with steady results. The German team took two second places to move up to third overall while Team USA went to the top of the leader board with a bullet and a third place.
As others around them seemed to struggle to some degree, the Americans chose a different tactic and used the conditions on offer to put in to action some things they have been looking to improve upon, and they seemed to work as Kendall explains, "It was light and tricky out there today, and having patience was the name of the game. We also had two good starts which helped us out. We've been focusing on our starting technique for months now. We also were very aggressive in our weight placement and boat handling, with Hugh [Freund] and I moving around constantly.”
When it mattered at race time the movement and starting practice came to the fore and if the team can continue making the improvements they showed on the day they stand a very good chance of staying at the top and in and around the medals.
While Team USA had one of the bullets on offer the other was taken by Israel's Dror Cohen, Arnon Efrati and Shimon Ben Yaacov. Not immune from the diversity of results, the Israeli's slipped back to sixth in the second race but still feel that they improved from day one, as Cohen explains, "Our day started good, then was medium, but we managed to pull up and get back in the game again at the end. We had a good day compared to yesterday. We are looking forward to the next few days to just make it all work.”
They certainly did make it work in the first race chasing after something that was in short supply on the Ijsselmeer, the wind, "The guys who went after the wind got it and got to the first mark ahead, that was really the turning point. Whoever saw the wind seemed to get it while the others were just left standing. We did it very well in the first race but in the second we missed a little in the first upwind, but we managed to stay in the game.”
The shake-up in results has certainly left no clear favourite, and Cohen thinks that is the way it will stay throughout the regatta, with his team in with a shout come medal time, "We are happy, working hard, ready to compete and everyone is good here. Nobody is giving up and there are seven or eight boats that could win the gold and we are one of those, so let's see what happens.”
SKUD18
Top of the SKUD18 fleet are Poland's Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki who seem to have forgotten that there is a world championship on the line, or maybe it is the perfect tactic as the pair have performed consistently over the first two days scoring a 2,2,2,1.
Gibes and Cichocki's coach, Grzegorz Prokopowicz, has got in to the mind of his sailors to do one important thing in Medemblik, as Prokopowicz explains, "We don't think about winning a world championship, we think about having fun and sailing. It's six more races and we all just want to focus and have fun.”
Talking about the bullet and second his team notched up, that word comes up again, "The day was great for Piotr and Monika, they enjoyed their time on the water and had a lot of fun in the races.”
Fun may be the focus of the team and the coach but at some point they will have to think about winning that championship gold if their consistency stays with them through the regatta.
Currently the Polish teams nearest rivals are Great Britain's Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell who had a 5,2 for the day. With two fourth place finishes John Mcroberts and Jackie Gay (CAN) sit in third overall.
As well as a fight for medals, there is also a fight on to get to the Rio 2016 Paralympics as the Para Worlds is the second of two trial regattas for the USA SKUD18 teams. Sarah Skeels and Cindy Walker are in eighth on the leader board but more importantly ahead of their compatriots Ryan Porteous and Maureen Mckinnon-Tucker who sit in 12th.
With selection so close between the teams, Ryan Porteous will not have wanted to start his regatta being hit on the head on day one from a bit of freak bad luck. Porteous was flagged at the start of race one, caught an anchor line while doing a turn, hit the race committee boat and caught a blow from the boom. A DNF and a DNS is not the way you wish to start an important selection competition, but thankfully Porteous has come back to score a 14, 8 on day two. The selection battle lives on.
2.4 Norlin OD
Not to be outdone by the highs and lows of results in other fleets, Germany's Heiko Kroeger started day two with a lowly 20th place only to come back and get a bullet in the next.
When talking about his own performance, the German just happened to sum up the day perfectly across the board, "Light and shade were so close together today.” He was spot on.
The light for Kroeger was that bullet, but he had to get through his shade to get there and it just so happened that in his shade there was no wind at all, as he explains half chuckling, "I mean the first race I just had no wind and boats overtook me from left and right. The only thing I could do was count the boats, that was it.” With the chuckle subsided Kroeger continues, "I was just unlucky in the first race. Sometimes you need 5% luck to make up the rest of the 95% from the race to get the result.”
Luckily for Kroeger the maths added up and thanks to his first he currently sits in third overall on 25 points.
Sitting above in second is Australia's Matt Bugg who picked up a third and tenth on the day to give him 19 points total. Still ahead and in pole position is current world champion Damien Seguin (FRA). Considering the differences elsewhere the Frenchman would be relatively happy with a 4,5 to sit on 11 points.
Outside the top three and in ninth on the leader board you will find young gun Fia Fjelddahl (SWE). Arguably the rising star of the 2.4 Norlin OD, Fjelddahl was excited to come ashore with a bullet from race one in a very competitive fleet and will be hoping that can spur her on to push her way up the overalls with what is undoubtedly a confidence boost for the youngster.
Fjelddahl will have a chance to gain some more bullets on day three with the 2.4 Norlin OD first to launch with racing set to commence at 10.30 local time. The Sonar fleet start racing at 13.00 and the SKUD18 at 13.30 from the Medemblik Regatta Center.
By Richard Aspland - World Sailing
