Testing limits at 420 Worlds

Fremantle, Australia (January 1, 2018) – Weather conditions were stronger than anticipated today for the fourth day at the 420 World Championships, peaking at an average of 20 knots late in the day and gusting as high as 24 knots. Forecasters are still predicting softer pressure tomorrow, which may please some of the visitors to Fremantle.

The conditions have really pushed teams to the limit, but equally are conditions which the 420 thrives in, bursting over the waves at full power.

420 LADIES
In the Ladies’ division, Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries continued their good form with third and first placings, to hold their spot at the top of the points table, ahead of Victorians Laura Harding and Ellie Grimshaw, who finished the day with a pair of seconds. Maria and Pilar Caba from the Canary Islands and the 2017 420 European Champions, replicated yesterday’s scores of a fourth and a sixth to lie in third place overall.

Best result of the Championship so far, a win in race 7 pitched Great Britain’s Isabel Davies and Gemma Keers one place up the leaderbaord to 6th.

420 Ladies (Top 10 of 39; 8 races, 1 discard)
1. Nia JERWOOD/Monique DE VRIES (AUS 54798) – 12 pts
2. Laura HARDING/Eleanor GRIMSHAW (AUS 55158) – 17 pts
3. María CABA/Pilar CABA (ESP 56246) – 27 pts
4. Sophie MCINTOSH/Orla MULHOLLAND-PATTERSON (AUS 53663) – 31 pts
5. Sophie JACKSON/Laura THOMSON (AUS 55166) – 37 pts
6. Isabel DAVIES/Gemma KEERS (GBR 55517) – 43 pts
7. Arianna PASSAMONTI/Giulia FAVA (ITA 56047) – 50 pts
8. Solène MARIANI/Maude SCHMID (SUI 56274) – 53 pts
9. Clara OLIVE/Solenza MARIANI (FRA 56376) – 61 pts
10. Olívia BELDA/Elisa VON FRITSCH (BRA 54642) – 61 pts

420 U17
The British combination of Jack Lewis and Charlie Bacon, who were confident yesterday of handling the heavier conditions, were brought back to earth today with disappointing placings of 12th and sixth, to slip to second overall in the Under 17 division.

Italians Tommaso Cilli and Bruno Mantero sailed beautifully today with a pair of seconds to maintain their spot at the top of the table. Spain’s Pol and Alex Marsans scored two fourth placings to hold down second spot ahead of their countrymen Demetrio Sposato and Gabriele Centrone. German brothers Florian and Maximilian Buscher had a disappointing race seven with a 13th placing, but a third in the next race kept their chances alive. It was their worst day of the series.

Greece’s Ariadni-Paraskevi Spanaki and Myrto Papadopoulou lead the way as the highest placed girls team in 8th overall. The partnership picked up silver at the 420 U17 Junior Europeans, and if they can repeat their win from race 7 today have every chance of edging higher up the leaderboard.

420 U17 (Top 10 of 41; 8 races, 1 discard)
1. Tommaso CILLI/Bruno MANTERO (ITA 56076) – 25 pts
2. Pol MARSANS/Alex MARSANS (ESP 55846) – 26 pts
3. Demetrio SPOSATO/Gabriele CENTRONE (ITA 56563) – 31 pts
4. Florian BÜSCHER/Maximilian BÜSCHER (GER 55660) – 33 pts
5. Martín WIZNER/Pedro AMENEIRO (ESP 55163) – 40 pts
6. Tommaso SALVETTA/Giovanni SANDRINI (ITA 55951) – 45 pts
7. Jack LEWIS/Charlie BACON (GBR 56091) – 48 pts
8. Ariadni-Paraskevi SPANAKI/Myrto PAPADOPOULOU (GRE 54484) – 52 pts
9. Konstantinos VARDALIS/Panagiotis Giorgos MATSADES (GRE 54264) – 63 pts
10. Lluc REVERTÉ/Joan VILA (ESP 54984) – 74 pts

420 OPEN
The final series racing got underway today with the top 32 teams on the leaderboard advancing to gold fleet racing and the remaining 32 teams racing in the silver fleet for the final 6 races.

A sensational start to proceedings on day 4 of the 420 World Championships at Fremantle Sailing Club when Open division leader Chris Charlwood found that his jib forestay turning block was damaged. When it became clear that the damage could not be repaired, a new mast was organised while the remainder of the fleet sailed off to the course area.

In an amazing piece of work, the damaged mast and fitting was removed from the boat and replaced in time for the start of Race 8 and to be retrospectively measured immediately the boat returned to shore.

The outcome, was that Charlwood and Dawson dropped from the top of the Open fleet into third place overall after missing race seven. That they were able to score a ninth place with an untried rig is testament to their determination. Two Spanish boats now head the open table. The 2017 420 Junior European Champions, Carlos Balaguer and Antoni Massanet, with a third and a sixth today are clear leaders ahead of their countrymen Albert Torres and Francisco Mulet. The French pair Thomas Andre and Justin Baradat share third place with the Australians.

Scores are so close in the Open division that any of the top ten boats can still win.

420 Open (Top 10 of 64; 8 races, 1 discard)
1. Carlos BALAGUER/Antoni MASSANET (ESP 55947) – 17 pts
2. Albert TORRES/Francisco MULET (ESP 52779) – 20 pts
3. Chris CHARLWOOD/Josh DAWSON (AUS 54351) – 21 pts
4. Thomas ANDRE/Justin BARADAT (FRA 55986) – 21 pts
5. Edoardo FERRARO/Francesco ORLANDO (ITA 56278) – 23 pts
6. Enrique LUJÁN/Pablo LUJÁN (ESP 56331) – 23 pts
7. Andrea SPAGNOLLI/Kevin RIO (ITA 56028) – 28 pts
8. Enzo BALANGER/Gaultier TALLIEU (FRA 56030) – 35 pts
9. Eduard FERRER/Carlos DE MAQUA (ESP 55980) – 44 pts
10. Elias ARETZ/Pablo GARCÍA (ESP 56251) – 51 pts

Event Details – Results – Facebook

About the 2017 420 World, Ladies World and U17 World Championships
The 2017 420 World, Ladies World and U17 World Championships, 26 December 2017-3 January 2018, is hosted at Fremantle Sailing Club, Perth, Australia.288 sailors from 18 nations are competing, with 64 boats in the 420 Open fleet, 39 in the 420 Ladies and 41 in the U17.

The 420 Open teams are split into two fleets for a 6 race qualification series and 6 race final series, with a single race discard coming into play after race three. Teams contesting the Ladies and U17 World Championships race a single series of 12 races.

144 teams from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey are competing.

About the International 420 Class Association
The 420 is an established worldwide performance two-person trapeze and spinnaker racing dinghy which holds status as an International Class and Learn-to-Sail boat.

A performance two-person spinnaker racing dinghy for youth, the 420 has been selected as the youth development class in over 45 nations around the world. The 420 is an important choice to develop sailing and sailors’ skills in strategy, tactics, boat handling, tuning and technique and is very accessible, demanding skills easily obtained by sailors in developing nations.

The 420 Class has trained many of the world’s best sailors and is a proven transition class, whatever your next step in sailing, dinghy or multihull, keelboat or skiff.

Source: Bernie Kaaks / Fremantle Sailing Club