Day 1 of racing at the Worlds in Salou
The 2017 Techno293 World Championships have finally kicked off and everyone is excited to show off what they are here to do.
The weekend saw all the competitors arrive at the beautiful Spanish location of Salou to complete their registration before being present for the wonderful opening ceremony. “The kids are happy, and as I always say: if the kids are happy everybody is happy.” – said Ezio Ferin the class president just after the ceremony.
It might be nearly the end of October but sunny Spain has held up its end of the bargain and is producing beautiful weather that reminds everyone at the event that summer time isn’t over just yet.
The opening races of the event saw success for Israeli Junior Boy Daniel Basik-Tashthas, who came away from the day with a total of 3 points thanks to a second and a first place in the first two races. Breathing hot on his heels was Frenchman Jules Chantrel, who also finished the day with 3 points.
Those two competitors blew the rest of the sailors out of the water, as third - Eden Chen is trailing by 4 points. Despite making a strong start and placing third in the first race, Chen lagged behind in the second and finished just outside the top positions. However, it did wrap up a good day for the Israeli fleet who occupied three of the top four spots.
Israel had excellent success again through their Junior Girls and took two of the top three places. Ella Benbenisti won the day with a score of 4.0, while Sharon Kantor came third with a score of 9.0 – the same as second placed Hong Kong national Mak Cjheuk-Wing.
There were two races on the first day in good conditions of sun and 6-10 kts of wind and that helped Amit Gan and Roi Hillel to claim first and second in the Youth Boys, while fellow Israeli athlete Vardimon Tomer came in fourth overall. Third was Leonidas Tsortanidis from Greece.
Fabien Pianazza is looking to win his third big championship this year but has finished the day in seventh place with a total of nine – but he will be building up and you can’t write him off just yet. Meanwhile, his main rival from the Europeans Vardimon Tomer ended up in fourth and is ready to challenge for the title.
Over in the Youth Girls, Maya Ashkenazi capped off Israel’s domination by placing first, while European powerhouse France finished in second, third and fourth place thanks to Elisa Jariel, Heloizse Macquaert and Enora Tanne.
With a leader lycra ceremony and 10:45 and a first possible warning signal at 12:00, tomorrow’s racing could get very interesting indeed. Make sure you stick around to check it out!