Gdansk Bay, just off Gdynia in Poland, presented itself with a more stable breeze on the second day of the 2019 Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships which enabled each fleet to complete a good number of races over a long day of racing. 

A pecking order of each fleet is beginning to take shape, with Australia rising to the top of the Mixed Nacra 15 fleet as well as solidifying a top-five place in the Boy’s 29er fleet. 

Zac Littlewood put in a race win in the Boy’s Laser Radial, while Maddie O’Shea secured a second place in the last race of the Girl’s Laser Radial wrapping up a day of mixed results for the Australian Sailing Youth Team. 

Wind conditions remained tricky on day two with a frontal system coming through that swung the breeze hard to the north and eventually by the end of the day it was back in the west, making for big shifts throughout the day with the most stable breeze in the middle of the day. 

In the Mixed Nacra 15 Will Cooley and Rebbeca Hancock are standalone leaders after another day fighting it out at the front of the 21-boat. Two fifths and a fourth puts them a point clear of France’s Titouan Petard and Marion Declef.

“It was a bit windier today with a couple more waves, which was quite interesting and shook things up a bit and made for some really difficult and tight racing which is always fun,” Rebecca Hancock said about the conditions.

“We went really well and had great consistent results, which is what we are looking for. We basically put our best effort out there and got those results from doing so,” Will Cooley added.

The Boy’s 29er added another three races to their overall total with Middle Harbour Yacht Club sailors Archie Cropley and Max Paul having another solid session that saw solidifying their place in the top five and in the hunt for a medal with a consistent day of racing, a score card of 4-8-7 and a fourth place overall. 

The Boy’s 420 fleet completed two further races on Tuesday, with Ryan Littlechild and Jack Ferguson moving up two spots on the results ladder after posting a seventh place in the first race of the day, followed by an 18th.  

The Boy’s and Girl’s Laser Radial fleets only completed one race on the opening day and sailed three on Tuesday to catch up on their schedule of races.

Western Australian Zac Littlewood had a mixed day in the Boy’s Laser Radial with some strong results early on. Littlewood started the day with a sixth place in the first race and won the second. However, a second yellow flag on the downwind in the last race meant he had to retire from the race bringing his day two score card to 6-1-(58 RET). He moves up into twelfth place overall.

Maddie O’Shea had a tough start to the day but fought hard all day improving throughout and managing to finish off the day with a second place in the last race. 

Having sat ashore waiting to race and subsequently unable to because of minimal breeze on Monday, the Girl’s 29er and 420 fleets as well as the Boy’s and Girl’s RS:X also finally hit the water for racing.

Victorian twins Matilda and Lily Richardson commenced their competition with two races in the middle of the fleet (12, 16) and move into 15th place after the first day of racing for the Girl’s 420 fleet.

Four races were completed in the Girl’s 29er fleet on Tuesday making for a long day on the water. Tasmanians Alice Buchanan and Derla Duggan got off to a rocky start with an UFD in the second race and a 19th, 20th and 11th in the other three putting them in 22nd place overall. 

In the Boy’s RS:X Hamish Swain finished the day in 14th after posting a 11-12-(21) scorecard, while in the Girl’s RS:X Amelia Quinlan posted a 17-(20)-18 to finish the day in 19th overall.  

More than 400 sailors from 66 nations are racing on boats supplied by Ovington Boats (Boy’s and Girl’s 29er), Nautivela (Boy’s and Girl’s 420), Laser Performance / Maclaren (Boy’s and Girl’s Laser Radial) and Nacra Sailing (Mixed Nacra 15). The RS:X racers are sailing on their own equipment for 2019. Even to make it to the Youth Worlds is an achievement in itself with only one nation represented in each fleet.

Racing is scheduled to continue at 11:00 local time on Wednesday 17 July as the Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships reaches its mid-point.

EVENT WEBSITE
Click here for the event website - http://worldsailingywc.org/

RESULTS
Click here for result from Gdynia

AUSTRALIAN TEAM RESULTS

Nacra 15 (Mixed team) Will Cooley and Rebecca Hancock (NSW): 2, 3, 3, (5), 5, 4 – 1st

29er (Boys) Archie Cropley and Max Paul (NSW): 5, 8, (13), 4, 8, 7 – 4th 

29er (Girls) Alice Buchanan and Dervla Duggan (TAS): 19, (26 UFD), 20, 11 – 22nd

420 (Boys) Ryan Littlechild and Jack Ferguson (NSW): 21, 16, 7, 18 – 19th 17th 2 races

420 (Girls) Lily and Matilda Richardson (VIC): 12, 16 – 15th 

Laser Radial (Boys) Zac Littlewood (WA): 26, 6, 1, (58 RET) – 12th  

Laser Radial (Girls) Maddie O’Shea (NSW): Results not updated on website.

RS:X (Boys) Hamish Swain (QLD): 11, 12, (21) – 14th 

RS:X (Girls) Amelia Quinlan (NSW): 17, (20), 18 – 19th 

HOW TO FOLLOW
Australian Sailing Youth Website
Daily Updates will be posted on the Australian Youth Sailing Website here: https://www.sailingyouth.org.au/home/

See the full team line-up here: https://www.sailingyouth.org.au/youth-worlds/2019-australian-youth-team/

Photos: Robert Hejduk/World Sailing

SOCIAL MEDIA
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