Youthful progress in light conditions

Wednesday 14 July 2010, 22:30 GMT

It was another hot and hazy day on the Bay of Marmara as the fleet of nearly 350 boats sat rigged and ready in the steamy Istanbul heat waiting for a sea breeze to arrive.

Eventually by around 15:00 hrs local time, a faint breeze started to form and classes were called out on all three courses. Most classes managed at least one race, in wind ranging from 5 - 9 knots before the land started to cool and the sea breeze shut down again.

470

Just one race again today for the 470 girls and Austrians Lara Vadlau and Hannah Hanke, competing as a team in their first regatta, sailed a tactical race to claim second and maintain their lead over the Swiss pair Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthalter.

Lara Vadlau described her day. "We had a good start and stayed on the left side of the course but the pressure came from the right so a number of boats passed us. We rounded the first mark in 10th but managed to overtake two boats downwind and another four upwind. We finished second so I'm happy. I have a new crew, Hannah and this is the first time we have sailed together."

In the boys' 420, the Spanish team of Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp scored their second consecutive bullet and have not finished lower than fourth. After four races they have nine points and a handsome lead over their Portuguese rivals, Jao Villas Boas and Tomas Camelo, who had to count a 16th in the only race of the day.

"We started in the front and stayed with the fleet," said Jordi. "We had good speed rounding the first mark in the lead. We tried to sail an easy race. There were a few gusts downwind and a number of black flags were waved, so that enabled the first three boats to escape from the fleet."

29er

The 29ers tried to sail two races today but when the breeze shut down they ended up crawling around the inner course, and have now completed six races. Gael Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet (FRA) have discarded their worst result, a fifth, and recorded top three results to end the day with a seven point lead. They are chased by Alex Maloney and Sam Bullock, who have been knocking on the door of the top ranks all week.

A tired-looking Alex and Sam shared their day's experience: "We had a pretty average start but rounded the first mark in fourth. We found some good lanes. Some boats went right to the corners but we stayed in breeze, but it was difficult. Keeping the kite filled downwind was hard on the last leg."

Laser Radial

Overnight leader in the boys' Laser Radial division, Levent Ahiskali (TUR) had a day to forget, receiving a black flag on the start line and he will have to wait until the fifth race and the discard to climb back up the scoreboard. In the meantime, Aleksander Arian from Poland used the advantage and sailed a solid race to finish seventh, taking the overall lead.

A modest Aleksander explained, "It's my first time in Turkey and the wind was very shifty in direction today. It's my worst sailing conditions - in Gydnia we have much stronger winds. Anything in the top 10 is good for me in these weather conditions."

Keerati Bualong of Thailand is only one point adrift in the silver spot and the top five remain quite close.
Despite the tireless efforts of the Race Committee on the Laser Radial course today, the Laser Radial girls were unable to complete a race so the overnight results remain the same.

RS:X

The RS:X fleets had to work hard again in the afternoon sun to pump their way around the course for only one race. In the boys' division, the leaderboard remains unchanged despite the discard coming in to play. Korean Wonwoo Cho came second to hold a four point lead over Spaniard Mateo Sanz.

In the girls' RS:X, Ofir Halevy (ISR) had her worst result of the regatta so far, but as five races have been sailed she discarded her sixth place result today. This still leaves her in a comfortable position at the top of the table, with two more race days to go. Charalambia Antonatou of Greece remains in second spot but the top five are all close on points.

SL16

The SL16 Sirenas managed two more races today and the top two crews have reversed places once the discard was applied. Now the Danes Daniel Bjornholt and Nicolaj Bjornholt have taken the lead from the Australians Chase Lurati and Paul Darmanin.

Worthy of mention are the sailors from Bahrain, Al Naar Faisal and Daoud Abdulla, sailing in the SL16 for the first time. They were at the back of the fleet for the first two races but suddenly found some magic, finishing third in two consecutive races and were thoroughly applauded by their fellow sailors for their achievement. A seventh today proves they are learning fast and could be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Racing resumes on Thursday and the general forecast is predicting more of the same conditions with the possibility of more cloud cover later in the day.

Race tracking is used for a different fleet each day and can be viewed at: www.onlineracetrack.net.

For results and more details on the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship visit: www.isafyouthworlds.com and follow us on Facebook.