Techno Worlds
The Worlds in Medemblik have come to a close, with some tight racing across all fleets.
Boards caught up with coach Ian Roberts for a round up of the competition:
Techno Racing
‘This time last year we were enjoying huge success in San Francisco. A year on, and we’ve had a fantastic World Championships in Medemblik. The racing in the Techno’s was really tough all week in sweltering temperatures with breeze that shifted frequently and an unprecedented standard of sailing. Unfortunately, we were unable to bring home any top 3 places, but boy were we close! In reality, this has proved a fantastic learning experience for all involved and the future for Techno, and for Team GBR’s up and coming talents is very bright indeed. I’m really proud of the team – all British sailors showed incredible determination and dedication through the week. For many of them, the highlight was meeting Dorian and seeing his Gold medal, but I hope their learning stretches far deeper than this. We pitted our wits against some truly awesome sailors, learnt a great deal and roll on 2013.’
Full Results:
Boys U17 Gold Fleet
Girls U17 Gold Fleet - Emma Labourne finishes fourth, with Emma Wilson in fifth.
Girls U15 – Sarah Labourne finishes 9th
Day Five Video:
Day Four Video:
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Boards Windsurfing » Windsurfing News
Bic Techno293 Worlds
The 2012 Windsurfing world championships for Techno293, Raceboard Youth and Raceboard Masters are set to be hosted from August 11th through the 19th at the International Sailing Center Medemblik.
Windsurfers from across the world will float to the Netherlands to race against each other, including strong British teams and coach now turned Techno293 racer, Ali Yates. Ali recently got convinced to start racing after coaching the kids for years, we are all wishing Ali and the rest of the competitors lots of luck and we cannot wait to get a full report from the event.
Also making an appearance at the Worlds will be new Olympic gold medalist, Dorian who will be heading to his home country to inspire the new generation of competitors, WILL YOU BE THERE?
Follow all the latest from the Techno and Youth worlds here on Boards and on the event website.
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Boards Windsurfing » Windsurfing News
Sail for Gold Final Results and BBC coverage
Bryony Shaw battling the strong winds in Weymouth. Richard Langdon/ Skandia Team GBR
Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberge was victorious in the men’s fleet, eight points behind Julian Bontempts going into the medal race he had his work cut out. However a win in the final race with Bontemps back in fifth, was enough to leave to two on equal points, with van Rijsselberge taking the title due to his medal race win. Nick Dempsey finished in the final podium place, in third, just behind Bontempts.
Elliot Carney, Dempsey’s training partner took 17th position, posting a couple of top ten results through the week, whilst Sam Sills finished 31st and Tom Squires was just behind him in 34th.
Find out more about Olympic Windsurfing on Boards.
Nick and Bryony can be spotted on the BBC show ‘British Olympic Dreams’ talking again about the shock decision to remove windsurfing as an Olympic sport. Click the link and skip to 18minutes… British Olympic Dreams on iPlayer
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Video: RS:X Speed Sailing in Cadiz
Footage of the RS:X fleets going for broke at the Cadiz World Championships last week…
With winds of over 50 knots putting the offical racing on hold, the Olympic-class athletes took to the water to try and post the fastest speed.
$1,000 was up for grabs as white water whipped through the air in the bay of Cadiz. Check out some amazing runs and even more amazing crashes as Dorian van Rijsselberge and Hanna Zembrzuska post the top speeds.
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Boards Windsurfing » Windsurfing News
RS:X Worlds: Hook in and hold on!
Cadiz continues to be battered by storm-force winds on Day 6…
The RS:X World Championships in Spain are entering their final days and the action is only getting more exciting! Day 6 saw gusts peaking over 50 knots. Too much wind for the RS:X Class surely? No… As opposed to racing, the organisers decided instead to simply switch to speed sailing! While they may never break the 50-knot barrier on their 9.5 metre sails, the competitors gave it a very good go in the howling winds.
Defending World Champion Dorian van Rijsselberge from the Netherlands hit an incredible 31.86knots, securing the win in the mens fleet while Hanna Zembrzuska won the ladies fleet, just shy of 26 knots. The two sailors shared the $1,000 prize money.
Check out a video of the action from Day 6 below and Nick Dempsey storming into second place on Day 5 at the bottom of the page…
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ISAF Worlds – RS:X Men Final Wrap
The ISAF RS:X Mens Worlds came to a dramatic close over the weekend as the top spot was shuffled around in last of the medal races but it was Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) who shone through to take the top spot. Read on for more…
The Overall Champions
Just 16 days ago, Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) was ranked 10th in the world in Men’s RS:X windsurfing.
By late Sunday afternoon (18 December), he was the new world champion, having wrestled the crown from defending champion, Poland’s Piotr Myszka, by winning the gold medal at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.
“It means satisfaction for the last three years,” van Rjisselberghe said when he returned to Bathers Bay beach from the Centre Course.
But it was by no means an easy race for any of the Men’s RS:X medal winners.
Myszka stayed close to his rival for the entire race, hoping van Rijsselberghe would falter.
“I was with Dorian all the time but he was a little bit faster on the first upwind so I lost him there,” Myszka said.
“I was waiting for some mistake, but he made none.
“He’s a world champion, he knows what to do and he protected himself really well. I couldn’t do anything.”
Just one point separated the two sailors before they set sail Sunday, guaranteeing fierce competition.
Van Rijsselberghe said he was greatly impressed by Myszka’s performances during this week’s races: “He’s a great racer. It’s just unbelievable, you didn’t really see him at the beginning of the week and then all of a sudden he comes out [on Saturday] on top. He’s an amazing sailor and windsurfer. I have a lot of respect for the guy.”
Myszka even risked injury to claim a medal: “I was pumping so hard that my hand opened on the boom and I fell down to the water! So I ended up racing with one hand. It was a dangerous moment.”
But while the battle for gold prevailed, so too did the fight for the bronze, with Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL) losing his third overall place to Israel’s Nimrod Mashich.
Mashich and Miarczynski were extremely close on the downwind leg before the slalom finish. Both sailors ended with 52 points overall, but on a count-back Mashich took the bronze.
“Miarczynski is a really experienced sailor. I don’t know how many medals this guy has won in his life so it was very hard racing him today,” Mashich said.
Mashich, the world number two, said he was “really, really happy” to be taking a medal home.
“I really wanted to win but they [van Rijsselberghe and Myszka] are really incredible sailors so I did the maximum I could do and that’s it,” Mashich said.
Sunday’s final race saw three outsiders take the first three places – Byron Kokkalanis (GRE), Julien Bontemps (FRA) and Ivan Pastor (ESP) – but they were not contenders for a medal.