Brazil Stays Perfect at Lightning Youth Worlds

Salinas, Ecuador (July 25, 2016) – The second day of the Lightning Youth World Championship showed cleared skies at a sold 12-15 know breeze. The teams all seemed very enthused to back to racing early in the day.

Race 3
Due to a breakdown delay, Race 3 did not get into sequence until almost 2pm. A general recall encouraged the R/C to lengthen the start line, which allowed for an all clear start for the second attempt. Higher breeze than yesterday (12 kts, approximately) and sailing closer to shore resulted in more position changes than we have yet experienced.

Rounding the top mark first was team Peru followed by USA Probst/Ward/Jordan (one of two all-female teams). An exciting race continued with Team Brazil (Felipe Rondina/Thomas Petrie Sylvestre/Christian Lacerda Shaw) crossing the line first with Peru (Javier Arribas/Jarian Brandes/Rudolf Roeder), ECU (Matias Dyck / John Birkett / Jose Andres Lecaro), USA (Abbie Probst/Mikayla Ward/Becca Jordan) and USA (Tanner Probst/Jenna Probst/Maya Weber) rounding out the top 5.

A highlight for spectators was the whale watching during the race. A mother whale swimming alongside her toddler provided a great diversion from the racing.

The teams quickly boats, rehydrated and refueled and headed out to the race course for Race 4. With the completion of Race 4 a throw-out enters the scene and things will get interesting.

Race 4
Race 4 got underway under the U flag, with a clean start for all. Again the race course was closer to shore, which allowed the fleet to experience some geographic influence at the top of the windward leg. The photography team enjoyed the backdrop of the Salinas skyline and the grouping of colorful spinnakers in the forefront.

Once again, the Brazilian team of Rondina/Sylvestre/Shaw emerged ahead at the top mark, but with less of a lead than we’ve witnessed previously. Position changes were common during this race, with velocity variations across the course as well as wind shifts. Strong downwind performances by Team USA A. Probst/Ward/Jordan as well as by Team ECU Dyck/Birkett/Lucardo resulted in their finishes of 5 and 3, both moving forward through the fleet in a commanding fashion.

Racing concludes on July 27.

Event details – Scoreboard

Source: Debbie Probst