Tied at top of Lightning Youth Worlds
Published on July 6th, 2018
Voula, Greece (July 6, 2018) – Day 2 of the 2018 Lightning Youth World Championship began in postponement with a first warning signal at 1:45 local time. Teams completed two races, and now with five races on the leaderboard, teams Asanathopoulous (GRE) and Hackerott (BRA) are tied on top heading into the final day of racing.
With a dropout coming into effect after the next race, however, the top three teams, now including Probst of the USA, will be even on points.
The first race of the day was characterized by fluctuating breeze, and the Brazilian team of Hackerott, van Deursen, and Peek exploited these conditions to take an early win. After a strong start, these three found both speed and smarts to reach the first windward mark in third position, trailing only Tanner Probst of the USA and team Gourgiotis of Greece.
The top three stayed in this order, with the Greeks leading the Americans, and the Brazilians in third, until the final leg of the race, where team Hackerott showed downwind speed to pass the other two teams and take the race win.
Next, in race two, team Asanathopoulous of Greece used their expert gear changing to take advantage of the ever-growing changes in wind speed to get to the front of the fleet. The local team demonstrated not only strong technique, but also stellar tactical wherewithal to claim this victory. After rounding the first mark in second, the Greeks used the run to make their move past team Folds of the USA, and would not relinquish their new lead.
Racing begins at 12:00 local time tomorrow, with 2 races scheduled for the 16 teams, and no races starting after 16:00.
Racing is planned for July 5 to 7.