Israel Claims U17 Titles at Techno 293 Worlds

Cagliari, Italy (October 30, 2015) – The first 2015 world champions for the Techno 293 windsurfing class arrive from Israel. As expected, both Katy Spychakov and Yoav Cohen (Under 17) secured their gold medals one day early. With light wind again in Cagliari, she kept winning (1-1), he just kept the rivals under control (4-2).

Celebrations in the water and back to shore, with different reactions. “I won two medals in the past, gold in Poland in 2013 and bronze in France last year, but this world title is different”, said Yoav. “The whole fleet has grown so much, it has been a really tough championship for everybody”. It’s the first world title for Katy: “I’m really happy. With light wind and no waves, today I had no problems”.

Both Under 17 fleets will assign the other medals on Saturday (first possible start at 11:00). Just one race left for the boys, with two points at the start between second and third seeded, Fernando Lamadrid Trueba of Spain and Tom Arnoux of France. A few more competitors – like Ho Yin Cheng, HKG 36, or Mateo Dussarps, FRA 17 – could still jump on the podium. Two races for the girls, instead. Italian Giorgia Speciale has very good chances for silver – a 13 points margin and too much experience at this level to make risky moves. Her team mate and friend Enrica Schirru still has to earn the bronze medal. Aikaterini Divari of Greece is 9 points behind but she hopes to get rid of the 16 points she’s carrying from race 4 – and she also finished ahead of the Italian in the last five races.

Gold for the Under 15 boys will be decided in just one race between Leonidas Tsortanidis of Greece (3-1 on Friday, now leading by two points) and Yun Pouliquen of France (2-2 in the last two races). We’ll see if their very strong teams will come into play, somehow. But another Greece vs France is announced for bronze: Fabien Pianazza (FRA 312) against Charalampos Kogias (GRE 107), four points apart. Just keep an eye on fifth seeded Edoardo Tanas of Italy, ready to jump into the fight.

Two final races for the Under 15 girls, if the wind agrees. Heloise Macquaert of France leads on Linoy Geva (ISR 442) by 9 points and Enora Tanne (FRA 322) is three more points behind. Surprises are still possible and even Dana Bekmuratova of Russia and Marta Monge from Italy – first and second in the last race on Friday – still have a chance for bronze, at least.

Techno Plus fleets will have three race to complete the program and Windsurfing Club Cagliari hopes to keep two medals here. Michele Cittadini still leads among the men (1-3 on Friday), but no mistakes will be allowed facing Team Japan, if he wants to grab the gold: Yuta Iwasaki (8 points behind) and Yuta Mori (13) are waiting for him.

Going into the final day with a 13 points lead, Lucie Pianazza could only throw her gold medal away, but her 1-2 on Friday proves she’s really focused on the target. Jeanne Penfornis (FRA 889) and Elena Vacca (ITA 711) are even at 23 and will likely battle for silver and bronze with Momoka Hara of Japan.

Event website – Photos

Background: The Techno 293 World Championships has attracted 334 competitors from 26 counties and 5 continents, with racing separated in divisions for Boys and Girls U17 and Boys and Girls U15. Six entrants from Mexico and six entrants from USA will be competing. Racing is scheduled on October 26-31. The RS:X is the biggest windsurfing class in the world.

Report by class media.