11 races and 3 worthy World Champions at the end of a good week of racing. Challenging conditions – “wind and surf and everything in between” – faced the 107 competitors at the 2019 Raceboard World Championships in Warnemunder. Strong winds and rolling waves greeted competitors on day one but conditions moderated by the last day to light wind almost without shore break and waves. [more]
A full 5 days of racing was provided by the excellent race committee delivering 11 races. Supremely confident Max Wojcik from Poland was almost unbeatable, winning most races by a large margin – only once did he finish second allowing Curro Manchon to win the final race of the Championship. Alexander Buchau from Spain took second place, just one point ahead of fellow countryman Toni Colomar Torres in third place.
“I won the World Championship here ten years ago and now again. I’m really happy”, said Wojcik with a smile after the award ceremony.
In the women’s fleet Aleksandra Blinnikka from Finland dominated from the beginning. She won seven races. The somewhat more demanding, rough weather conditions at the beginning of the championship were good and fun for the Finn from near Helsinki. The good wind situation on the last race day caused her surprisingly more problems. What a silent race and the way to victory was not that easy. “The other women were so very strong. It was hard work, but now I am super happy”, said Aleksandra. Second was Czech Jana Slivova and third Viviane Ventrin from France.
In the Junior fleet Ferran Jurado Besa and Guillem Segu Gira stayed constantly in first and second place during the whole championship. Until the ninth race, the German junior Richard Sprenger was safely in third place but the light wind on the last day of the World Championship knocked him back to fourth place. “But the first days were great,” said the junior looking back on the week. Finishing on equal points but the discard coming into play allowed Belgian Jonathan Bultynck to step on to the podium in third place.
3 World Champions:
Men – Maksymilian Wojcik
Women – Aleksandra Blinnikka
Under 23 – Ferran Jurado Besa
Full results
Men
Women
Under 23
Event website
Photos
Videos – World Champion Max Wojcik shares his top tips for success