Gold medals tumbled in Auckland at the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships as five winners were confirmed with a race to spare. Both RS:X titles were wrapped up in Auckland as Great Britain’s Emma Wilson took the girls’ title and Israel’s Yoav Omer took the boys’. [more]
Wilson claimed a bullet in the final race of the day, to go with her third and fourth to clinch the gold medal. For the Briton there was always a driving force in the background, a score she had to settle. “When I came fifth at the [RS:X] Worlds I was so upset, but this makes up for it. I always wanted a win, and to do it is amazing.”
With gold out of sight, Israel’s Katy Spychakov will concentrate on keeping hold of silver with a seven point cushion over Yue Tan (CHN) and Maria Belen Bazo (PER) heading in to the final day.
While Spychakov will go for silver, her male counterpart has got his gold in the bag. Yoav Omer has been an example of consistency, taking a stylish victory on the penultimate day with three wins from three races to give him an impressive 29 point lead.
On his win Omer said, “It’s an incredible feeling and I am so happy to win before the last day. I can’t really describe how I feel now. For sure my friends and family will be happy.”
Sil Hoekstra (NED) is in second place and will look to hold on to a ten point lead over Mack van den Eerenbeemt (ARU) who pulled himself back in to contention with three second places.
The final races are scheduled for 09:55 local time on Tuesday 20 December out of the Torbay Sailing Club.
By Richard Aspland – World Sailing
