YOUTH WORLDS KICK OFF ON BREEZY HAURAKI GULF
Plenty of thrills and spills on a gusty and shifty Hauraki Gulf on the north shores of Auckland for the opening day of the AON Youth Sailing World Championships in New Zealand. The 389 sailors from 65 nations racing across the nine fleets were greeted with winds in the high teens, sometimes touching 20 knots, coming in from the south west which tested all.
Argentina's Fausto Peralta and Martin Arroyo Verdi top the fleet on tiebreak over Italy's Edoardo Ferraro and Francesco Orlando in second, with the USA's Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin in thrid.
Rogers and Parkin began the 2016 Aon Youth Worlds with a win in the boy's 420 and Rogers said what every sailor in Auckland was thinking, "It was pretty breeze on out there with tight and super competitive racing. We are right there in it, and as the saying goes, 'you can't win it on the first day but you can lose it'.”
Sitting top of the girl's 420 are Poland's Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik, the returning champions. They are top on tiebreak advantage, sharing a points tally of six with Kathryn Hall and Ashton Borcherding (USA) and Alexandra Stalder and Silvia Speri (ITA).
Top 10 Results after 2 Races - click here for full results
420 Boys
1. Fausto Peralta/Martin Arroyo Verdi (ARG) - 3,1 - 4 pts
2. Edoardo Ferraro/Francesco Orlando (ITA) - 2,2 - 4 pts
3. Wiley Rogers/Jack Parkin (USA) - 1,6 - 7 pts
4. Ido Bilik/Ofek Shalgi (ISR) - 5,5 - 10 pts
5. Gustavo Abdulklech/Pietro Geronimi (BRA) - 9,3 - 12 pts
6. Enrique Lujan/Pablo Lujan (ESP) - 11,4 - 15 pts
7. Lennart Kuss/Paul Arp (GER) - 4,11 - 15 pts
8. Robbie King/Marcus Tressler (GBR) - 6,9 - 15 pts
9. Nicholas Sharman/James Grogan (AUS) - 10,7 - 17 pts
10. Maciej Krusiec/Rafal Radecki (POL) - 8,15 - 23 pts
420 Girls
1. Julia Szmit/Hanna Dzik (POL) - 5,1 - 6 pts
2. Kathryn Hall/Ashton Borcherding (USA) - 1,5 - 6 pts
3. Alexandra Stalder/Silvia Speri (ITA) - 3,3 - 6 pts
4. Olivia Belda/Marina Arndt (BRA) - 7,2 - 9 pts
5. Courtney Reynolds-Smith/Brianna Reynolds-Smith (NZL) - 6,4 - 10 pts
6. Alejandra Montemayor/Casilda Flores (MEX) - 4,0 - 14 pts
7. Mafalda Pires de Lima/Catarina Coelho (POR) - 9,7 - 16 pts
8. Violette Dorange/Camille Orion (FRA) - 10,9 - 19 pts
9. Camila Barletta/Micaela Del Pero (ARG) - 13,8 - 21 pts
10. Carlota Hernandez/Ana Carrasco Solla (ESP) - 8,15 - 23 pts
420 Class coach Nikos Drougkas (GRE) is on site throughout the Championship, running daily video briefings, to highlight areas of improvement, mistakes and of course those perfectly executed moves. Drougkas' coaching fees and flights are funded by the International 420 Class Association, with the Organizers providing accommodation and food.
Information on how to follow the event is below:
RESULTS / ENTRIES
A full list of sailors registered to sail in Auckland is available to view here - http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/entries/auckland_entries.php. Results are available via the results centre here - http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/results/index.php
PRESS RELEASES
World Sailing will be releasing international press releases after racing throughout the duration of the Youth Worlds. All the latest news and reports will be available to read here - http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/home.php
PHOTOGRAPHY
High resolution imagery free for editorial usage will be provided throughout the Youth Worlds by Sailing Energy. Imagery will be available to download via - http://worldsailing.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/2016-Auckland-New-Zealand/C0000lLWadd27MCU. The password to download is WSimages
TELEVISION
Racing and action shots plus interviews in English and native language will be available daily on the FTP server from Friday 16th December-Tuesday 20th December.
For further information please contact: richard.aspland@sailing.org / marketing@sailing.org
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the event on World Sailing's social networks and get involved in the conversation using #yw2016
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/YouthWorlds/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/isafworldsailing/
Twitter - @youthworlds
Snapchat - Follow our Story on Snapchat, search for worldsailing
LIVE BLOG
Follow the Youth Worlds through our live blog which will have regular updates from around the boat park and on the water. You can find the blog at http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/multimedia/live_blog.php