A slightly gray but very exciting start of the day
It was a slightly gray and cloudy start of the Sunday but the air in Scheveningen was filled with excitement and uplifting energy. Finally it was time to shine!
Light winds expected
The first boats left the shore shortly after 9 am and by 11:30 the first three classes were racing. The iQFOiL and ILCA6 classes started with postponement flags but luckily the waiting didn’t take too long. With a north-westerly breeze, expected to give us 8-10 knots, it was going to be a light day but there should be enough wind to get all scheduled races in. Despite the light winds the sailors were facing quite a workout the first few hours until the sea got a bit calmer during the day.
When you follow the racing via the SAP Sailing updates you might notice a bit more time in between two races than usual. Following the strength and direction of the current the committees might have to adjust the race courses a little before they start the next race. At the same time it gives the sailors a few more minutes to breathe.
The need for speed
Light wind in combination with waves can even be more challenging for the debuting iQFOiL class. The rule is that the majority of the sailors really need to be foiling to start (and finish) a race. The minimum they need is around 6/7 knots. Once flying 60 centimeters above the North Sea the young sailors also have to take into account the effects of the current. The reason why they choose to do slalom races today is because these races are better for light winds than course races.
The youth sailors are on a narrower board, 85cm wide instead of 95cm, than the board the Olympic sailors use in competition. This also means less drag and more speed! With the right conditions they might be able to hit about 30 knots.
Roi Levy and Ariel Gal from Israel managed to get two bullets on day 1
Olaf Ganzevles and Stijn Gast from the Netherlands sit in 7th after 3 races
Air Time!
Julia Damasiewicz from Poland is the current World Champion Kiteboarding U19. She is in the lead after 4 races with the same amount of points as Héloise Pegourié from France. Having won the most recent Kitefoiling World Series event in Traunsee, Austria, the 18-year-old Polish rider broke the incredible winning streak of 32 consecutive international regatta wins over the last six years by five-time Formula Kite World Champion Daniela Moroz (USA).
At 1 pm when the 420 class men came back in after two races, finally also the sun came out to play. After both ILCA6 classes were finished on course C it was time for the Nacra15 mixed multihull crews to show their skills. Half way the afternoon the wind was blowing about 11 knots, nice sailing conditions for the mixed multihull class, and the girls in the 420 and 29er class.
The provisional results can be found here and more photos will be available for download on Photoshelter using the password WSimages.
Perfectly on schedule
Pınar Coşkuner Genç is the principal race officer and overall responsible for all the activities on the water during the Allianz Youth Sailing World’s in Scheveningen: ‘We were very lucky with the weather because the predictions turned out to be the reality. We had a reasonably easy day and we’re perfectly on schedule with all races.’
