Windsurfing

The famous windsurf beach of Almanarre in Hyères FRA is the site of the fourth and last event in the women's PWA Slalom World Cup. Alas thus far only three heats were sailed on opening day (Sat.) due to lack of wind. Ahead with three bullets is Valérie Ghibaudo-Arrighetti FRA, followed by Karin Jaggi SUI, who leads the World Cup overall standings. She need s a second here to ice another title. Details on the PWA tour site, including videos and an interview with Jaggi in the daily report. Forecast promises Mistral for tomorrow.

In the men’s fleet, Piotr Myszka POL had to come back from dead last to win the medal race and beat out his compatriot Przemyslaw Miarczynski. Third place for Nimrod Mashiah ISR. Richard Stauffacher SUI finished the Championship on rank 23. Remains to be seen whether he will be able to catch up the backlog until London 2012 after his two year's absence from the Olympic circuit. Equally exciting was the women’s medal race, where Blanca Manchon ESP won the medal race and pipped 40-year old Alessandra Sensini ITA in the post, who finished sixth thus losing her bid for a fourth world title by a mere point. In third Charline Pichon FRA. No Swiss participants. The report, the final results and the YouTube channel.

A rollercoaster ride in moderate to light conditions rattled the standings at both medal races for the RS:X World Championship in Kerteminde DEN. There were dramatic position changes in both fleets with the final podium positions fluctuating by the minute as each race progressed. A new challenge for the surfers was posed by the weeds that washed into the ocean during a torrential downpour on Friday. In the men’s fleet, Piotr Myszka POL had to come back from dead last to win the medal race and beat out his compatriot Przemyslaw Miarczynski. Third place for Nimrod Mashiah ISR. It’s Poland ’s first World Championship in the RS:X, although Miarczynski won in the Mistral class in 2003. The silver fleet was won by Ben Barger USA. Equally exciting was the women’s medal race, where Blanca Manchon ESP won the medal race and pipped 40-year old Alessandra Sensini ITA in the post, who finished sixth thus losing her bid for a fourth world title by a mere point. In third Charline Pichon FRA, winning the tiebreaker over Bryony Shaw GBR for bronze. Winner of the ladies silver fleet was Kate Ellingham NZL, by a half point over Tuuli Petaja FIN. Farrah Hall USA finished 26th. The report, the final results and the YouTube channel.

Light winds prevailed yesterday for the first time after a rather windy initial phase of the RS:X Worlds 2010 off Kerteminde DEN, and the program had to be reduced to one heat per fleet. The leaders in both the men's and women's fleets to book high two-digit results. Despite of sailing the discards, the top three women Alessandra Sensini ITA, Lee-el Korzits ISR and Blanca Manchon ESP defended their places, but the persuers Zofia Klepacka POL, Bryony Shaw GBR and Charline Picon FRA did come very close.
The men's Thursday leader Dorian van Rijsselberge NED arrived on position 38 only and dropped on rank 8 overall. The new leader is Piotr Myszka POL one point ahead of Przemyslav Miarczynski POL and four points on Nimrod Mashiah ISR, followed by Tom Ashley NZL, Julien Bontemps FRA and the day best Toni Wilhelm GER. The results, the videos and the event-website.

A more stable breeze between 10 and 18 knots has shuffled the standings in favor of the specialists for breezier conditions. After the two races in the men’s gold fleet finals at the RS:X Worlds in Kerteminde DEN, Dorian van Rijsselberge NED maintains a two-point lead over Piotr Myszka POL who in turn has a two-point advantage over Nimrod Mashiah ISR. In the first race van Rijsselberge came back from 43rd to finish 12th and followed up with a bullet in the next contest, his fourth of the event. The silver fleet is led by Albert Lopes de Carvalho BRA.
In the women’s event, 40-year-old Alessandra Sensini ITA// is enjoying another renaissance here after a 3/1 day and holds a four-point lead over Lee-el Korzits ISR and Blanca Manchon ESP, who all took advantage of the previous frontrunners’ Maja Dziarnowska POL, Charline Picon, FRA or Sasa Sun CHN scoring high yesterday.
Kate Ellingham NZL leads the silver fleet. The report and all results, plus the tracking page.

No sailing at the RS:X World Championships in Kerteminde on layday, but behind the scenes the talk was about securing the future of the class in prepatration for the annual meeting. the talk was about finding a qualified organizer for the 2012 Worlds and the new Danish system to bring the racing to the masses, called ‘Sailstream – You Are the Producer’. It combines the TracTrac tracking system with several channels of video, including one with commentary on the racing streamed live from the water via wireless broadband network.
Of greater concern is the ISAF Olympic Commission and the requirements to keep sailing Olympic, byond keeping the RS:X as the s]windsurfing equipment. This includes a professionally managed class Web site and social media. Another objective is increasing more female competitors to a share of at least 40 percent or even half of the total RS:X fleet and getting boards to ISAF Member National Authorities in as many countries as possible to spread the class globally. Read on.
Racing in the gold and silver fleets is due to get underway today at 1100 local (0900 GMT). 8-10 knots from the ENE is forecast. Dorian Van Rjisselberge NED and Maja Dziarnowska POL are the current overall leaders. The standings and the event site.

Part 2 of the 'Windsurfing Movies' full of action follows the Wave specialists searching for the wildest beaches. The website with an online order link. Here some video vrailers.

With six races now sailed and the discard coming into play, Dorian van Rijsselberge NED launched himself into the lead, with the final two qualification series races held off Kerteminde DEN. Van Rijsselberge dropped his black flag disqualification from race 1 and with an impressive three firsts is now five points ahead of Piotr Myszka POL and Beijing Gold medalist Tom Ashley NZL.
Two more races also in the women’s division with Maja Dziarnowska POL taking the lead after the Chinese faded a little. In 2nd, one point behind, Charline Picon FRA followed by Sun Sasa CHN and Li Ling CHN. A renaissance of sorts for four-time Olympic windsurfing medalist Alessandra Sensini ITA in 5th and elder stateswoman Jessica Crisp AUS, who posted a 3-2 for 7th overall. With the qualification series complete, tomorrow is a lay day before racing resumes on Thursday and Friday with the fleet divided into gold and silver fleets prior to the top 10 show down in Saturday’s medal races.
All results, the video and the tracking page.

Perfect conditions on Day 2 brought a 20 kn breeze for the Olympic RS:X windsurfers who sail their 2010 World Championship in Kerteminde DEN. The men had 2 heats, while the women sailed three to make up for lost time on Sunday.
The Chinese women hadn't shown flag a lot at this year's World Cup events, but here they do. Li Ling CHN and Sun Sasa CHN have established themselves at the top of the standings as if they mean business . Lee Korzits ISR and surf-legend Alessandra Sensini ITA follow inthird and fourth. Some of the top sailors of the aging 2010 season are further back: Charline Picon FRA, tis only 11th, Marina Alabau ESP 13th, Bryony Shaw GBR 14th and Blanca Manchon ESP 15th.
The Olympic Champion Tom Ashley NZL continues to lead the men's fleet from the day's winner and fellow Kiwi Jon-Paul Tobin NZL, who's tied with Byron Kokalanis GRE and Przemyslaw Miarczyinski POL. The results and the report. All races can be viewed with GPS-tracking. During the day, some videos might become available on Youtube.

A shallow, slow moving depression crossing western Scandinavia, made for a challenging opening day at the RS:X World Championships in Kerteminde, Denmark. Two races have now been completed for each of the 60 strong men’s fleets, but none for the women’s. Even though the afternoon race in the yellow group, sailed in very light wind, saw a major right-shift that shuffled the fleet, the top sailors are found near the top of the leader board. After two group races the lead belongs to Piotr Myszka POL, followed by Shaha Zubari ISR and Tom Ashley NZL. Byron Kokalanis GRE is n fourth followed by three other Polish sailors. More breeze is forecast for today. The event website and the gallery.

Today the RS:X World championships start in Kerteminde on the Danish Island of Fyn with 119 men from 42 countries and 76 women from 28 nations. With only a handful of elite sailors dominating the class, wind conditions will be a decisive factor in the outcome. The forecast talks about two windy days initially but rather mellow condiitons later on, which could favor Shahar Zubari ISR. The woman to beat here will be Blanca Manchon ESP, who had a very good year with consistent top results. Watch the action via GPS tracking. The event site.

Light and shifty winds on Day 5 of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore led to two more races. The two-day break obviously benefited top favorite Darren Choi SIN who is riding his consistency to the top of the Byte CII Boys without having won a race yet. In second, Ian Barrows ISV, closely followed by Florian Haufe GER. In the Byte CII Girls, Lara Vadlau AUT continues her dominant performance after a 3-4 day. She leads Constanze Stolz GER by 12 and Celine Carlsen DEN by 20 points.
Equally dominating is Rafic Mayan ISR in the Tecno 293 Boy windsurfers, after two bullets yesterday for an eight-point lead over Michael Cheng HKG who is trailed by Martin Kieran GBR. With three bullets in the last three races in the Tecno 293 Girl windsurfers Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA looks like the new champion as she has an 11-point cushion over Naomi Cohen ISR and Audrey Yong SIN. The report.

No races yesterday at the Youth Olympics and a lay day is scheduled for today. Results as of Friday stand. Kaarle Tapper FIN (25 pts.) leads the Byte CII Boys, in the Byte CII Girls Lara Vadlau AUT (10) is at the top of the standings. In the Tecno 293 Boys Mayan Rafic ISR (10) lis ahead while the Tecno 293 Girls are led by Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA (14). The program provides for another lay day today, but it's getting tight for the completion of the full schedule with only six races in thus far. report and thegallery.

Under the watchful eyes of IOC President Jacques Rogge, a former Finn sailor, new leaders in the Boys Byte Cll and the Girls Techno 293 windsurfing classes have emerged after Day 3 of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, which was raced in moderate winds but strong currents. With the completion of five races one discard is now in play. Kaarle Tapper FIN (25 pts.) now leads the Byte CII Boys, followed by Florian Haufe GER (27) and event favorite Darren Chong SIN (31) while previous leader Just Van Aanholt AHO dropped to fourth. No such antics in the Byte CII Girls where Lara Vadlau AUT (10) had a 1-3 day to extend her lead to 11 points over Constanze Stolz GER and Celine Carlsen DEN (both on 21)
In the Tecno 293 Boys Mayan Rafic ISR (10) leads the boys after a 2-4 day, followed by Michael Cheng HKG (13) who won the final race of the day with a dramatic surge at the finish and Martin Kieran GBR (15) who had a bullet in Race 5. In the Tecno 293 Girls Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA (14) got her third bullet of the series to take the lead from Audrey Pei Lin Yong SIN (15), who lost ground after dropping her sail twice in race five and previous leader Naomi Cohen ISR (17) who had an OCS in Race 6. The Saturday forecast is for similar conditions. The report and thegallery.

Layday in Singapore at the Youth Olympic Games. Just van Aanholt (14 pts.) AHO leads the Byte CII Boys, Lara Vadlau AUT (16) is ahead in the Byte CII Girls. In the Tecno 293 Boys Rafic Mayan ISR (9) is the front runner and Naomi Cohen ISR (11) holds the top spot in the Tecno 293 Girls. The event site.

Last week, the windsurfers had their events on Lake Silvaplana - the Swiss Championships of the Formula Class and the Slalom, as well as the traditional Engadin Marathon, the 33rd, on the last day. No Champions could be crowned as the wind in rainy Engadin allowed only for two heats. The Marathon however was sailed in a prevailing Maloja wind. Winner was Sebastian Kördel GER. All other details in the report.

Stormy clouds blew in from the west late in the morning, prompting a category one storm warning to be raised and forcing race officials to postpone the races for a couple of hours. Racing finally got underway at around 15.00 hrs local time in a light five-knot breeze and slowly strengthening current. In the Byte CII Boys Just van Aanholt (14 pts.) AHO defended the lead on that shifty tricky day against Goncalo Pires POR (28) and Harald Faeste NOR (31). In the Byte CII Girls Lara Vadlau AUT (16) had a ninth and another bullet for a seven-point lead over Constanze Stolz GER (23) and Celine Carlsen DEN (30). The Tecno 293 Boys class has a new leader with Rafic Mayan ISR (9) who had a stellar day with 2-1. In second and third are Kieran Martin GBR and Chun Cheng HKG both on 14 points. In the Tecno 293 Girls, things cleared up a bit with Naomi Cohen ISR (11) building a six-point cushion over Audrey Yong SIN and Valentina Sergios ARG both on 17 points. The report.

The ISAF World Sailing Rankings for 18 August 2010 have been released. Most top-five rankings for Great Britain (6 events), France (5), USA and Spain (4). However Spain now is tops in the overall nations score. There are new leaders in the 470 Men, 49er, RS:X Men. The classes:
Finn: Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic CRO; Laser Radial: Evi Van Acker BEL; Laser Standard: Paul Goodison GBR; 470 Men: Belcher/Page AUS; 470 Women: Petitjean/Douroux FRA; 49er: Dyen/Christidis FRA; Star: Scheidt/Prada BRA; Womens Match Race: Lucy MacGregor GBR; RS:X Men: Ivan Pastor Lafuente ESP; RS:X Women: Bryony Shaw GBR.
The next release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings will be on 22 September 2010 up to and including the Finn Gold Cup in the USA, Laser World Standard Senior Championships in Great Britain and the RS:X World Championships in Denmark. Visit the ISAF World Sailing Rankings homepage to view the full Ranking lists.