The Techno293 World Championships have come to an end with another day of exciting racing. For 338 athletes from across 30 countries it will be a week to remember.
After day three and four of the championships were disrupted due to lack of wind, the last two days of racing provided excitement and conditions for those who had expertise in strong wind sailing.[more]
The whole event began in light wind of five to six knots, but then conditions progressed and got windier across the final two days – while the race committee managed to run three races on Friday and Saturday making it in total 11 for Youth Boys and 10 for all the other fleets.
Even though the largest fleets belonged to European powerhouses Spain, France and Italy, it was Israel who managed to dominate the whole competition and came victorious in every single category.
Speaking about her win, Junior Girl winner Ella Benbenisti, who was leading throughout the week of racing, said, “It was very fun, I enjoyed it. The weather was good and it was nice to get to the that position and it ended up well.” Second was Mak Cheuk-Wing from Hong Kong and third Yana Reznikova from Russia.
Over in the Junior Boys the Frenchmen Gaspard Carfantan and Jules Chantrel came third and second, with Daniel Basik-Tashtash from Israel dominating the fleet to claim the crown.
Even though the weather conditions were changeable, it suited some racers such as French Youth Girl Enora Tanne – who said that she liked the whole experience in Salou. “Well, I liked it because there was a lot of wind and there were conditions like that I liked,” Tenora clarified. “I like 10 knots (wind speed), but I managed to do good starts in more wind so I finished well.” Enora came in third. With Maya Ashkenazi from Israel in second.
For Maya, the week was also about having fun and meeting people that they otherwise wouldn’t – and this resulted in making friends from around the world. “It was good, yes. The wind was good, I like a strong wind. The sun and the friends were good, I had fun.”
Fellow Israeli, Linoy Geva was the gold medal winner, and she displayed the virtue of working hard and sticking to her guns throughout the week of racing. After suffering from a poor start, she described how she managed to turn it all around.
“In the start it wasn’t good,” Geva said. “I started the competition in 6th place and then yesterday I had a good day and today I won the competition,” she finalised.
The Youth Boy fleet was once again dominated by the Israeli windsurfers. With Roi Hillel winning the title, followed by Amit Gan and Eyal Zror.
Some of the biggest names in the competition might not have won, but this will pave the way for future Olympic names to get the exposure and experience they need to improve their craft.
Will Israel continue its dominance next year? We’ll learn in August when the Worlds come to Liepaja, Latvia.
