The Bay of Beylikduzu, possible Olympic 2020 sailing venue, is continuing to deliver incredible, and very windy, windsurfing conditions for the gathered organizers, media and competitors.[more]
“Pulsar”, a compact course, racing on a downwind slalom with a reaching start, turn the event into a incredible show with racers becoming slalom gladiators with wind gusts up to 29 knots.
In these magical conditions, the racers speed and control is amazing. The RS:One has shown its incredible performances range, featuring great control and astonishing top speed.
Turkish PWA slalom star, Pamir Sacan, was one of the favorites with this format but, despite a good rank in the races, he was not able to contain the aptitude of the Asian Hong Kong winning machine. The Philippines squad has been also in control in wind conditions that they are not used to. Guiseppe Zerillo from Italy is a man to watch as he is on 3rd position, patiently awaiting a mistake from the Hong Kong leaders. It is an identical scenario in the female division with Israeli Shai Blank in 3rd place while Hong Kong girls are leading.
Tomorrow, the guru see pink, stay tuned!
Ranking after 9 races:
Female:
1st Lo Sin Lam – HKG
2nd Ma Kwan Ching – HKG
3rd Blank Shai – ISR
Male
1st Kwok Fai Cheng – HKG
2nd Lee Chun Ting – HKG
3rd Giuseppe Zerillo – ITA
Full Results after 9 races: Men / Women
The RS:One Class is holding its second World Championship. In 2012 the first world championships delighted racers, set in one of the most beautiful islands of the world: Boracay in Philippines. This year the possible 2020 Olympic venue in Istanbul has been selected.
6 nations from 3 continents are now contesting the male and female world titles in idyllic wind conditions ranging from 20 to 27 knots.
The ‘Regatta’ course format was chosen for the first day, and featured a classic windward/leeward course. Hong Kong and Philippines teams dominated the first 3 races.
Today’s ‘Marathon’ format delivered 3, fantastic, long distances slalom races – in and out races, with impressive performances from the racers delivering top speeds up to 29 knots. A total of 18 miles were completed, crossing the beautiful bay of Beylikduzu, a day that produced an enthusiastic response from all competitors. It was a stunning performance from the Turkish Ugur Iyigun with 2 clear bullets at the first and second races but unfortunately his domination was stopped with a piece of wood stuck on his fin at the last reach of race 3.
Hong Kong Team is clearly determined to claim the title in both male and female divisions, with top ranking position after 6 races, but for sure the games are not over and countries like Italy, Philippines, Israel and Turkey are not far behind.
The windguru forecast for tomorrow is turning to red ! with gusts up to 28 knots which will probably push the race committee to select the ‘Pulsar’ course. Short course racing on a downwind Slalom with a reaching start which will, for sure, bring some surprises for the leaders.
Ranking after 6 races:
Female:
1- Lo Sin Lam – Hong Kong
2- Ma Kwan Ching – Hong Kong
3- Blank Shai – Israel
Male:
1- Kwok Fai Cheng – Hong Kong
2- Lee Chun Ting – Hong Kong
3- Giuseppe Zerillo – Italia
