Like many other events, the O’pen Skiff World Championships could not take place in 2020. One year later, happily the event has just found its way back to the scheduled 2020 destination, the fantastic spot at Calasetta, southern Sardinia, where 205 eager young sailors from 6 countries had signed up to compete for the O’pen Skiff World Champion titles at stake.
The only disappointment? The absence of major players such as New Zealand, Australia, India, Thailand and Japan, due to the ongoing Covid restrictions still in place in those countries. We hope to be back next year, with all of them at racing.
All the same, all 205 sailors had to wait one day to test themselves on the water, the first day of competition abandoned due to excessive (over 35 knots!) wind blast.
But the wait was worth it, as the following days delivered smooth steady winds, perfect conditions for full-on, exciting dinghy racing in both categories, Under 13s and Under 17s, until the rougher Mistral winds came back at the end of the week, testing the full range of skills the skippers had at their disposal.
From the first day it was clear that everyone was overjoyed to be back on the water, racing and being in the action. And from the first day it was also clear who the eventual winners would be, Josef Krasowski (U13) and Manuel de Felice (U17). Both of them imposed themselves from the start and never let up, establishing impressive leads in their respective rankings, showing their mastery of varying conditions and a skill level that says everything about the energy and dynamism that the O’pen Skiff class has come to symbolise.
The final day’s racing saw an excellent late surge from Poland’s Daria Pedowska in the U13 category, making her the only girl to make a podium finish, in 3rd place. At the end of four days of hard racing in varied conditions, the new O’pen Skiff World Champions were crowned, although everyone here was a winner, making the effort to be present, and giving their all to enjoy great racing and great fun on and off the water.
Results
U13
1st : Josef Krasowski (Poland) 14pts
2nd : Matteo Attolico (Italy) 49pts
3rd : Daria Pedowska (Poland) 61pts
U17
1st : Manuel de Felice (Italy) 23pts
2nd : Leonardo Nonnis (Italy) 57pts
3rd : Alessandro Guernieri (Italy) 64pts
Big thanks to the local club, for their warm welcome and excellent organisation, to everyone (competitors, coaches, families, friends, organisers, sponsors, partners and spectators….) who came to enjoy the event, and to Tahe for supporting O’pen Skiff sailing.
See you next year….
