Friday 21 July will see the conclusion in Rimini of the Open Skiff World Championship, which began with the opening ceremony last Sunday and continued on Monday with the regattas valid for the awarding of the three category titles, with weather conditions characterised by very hot weather, but a sea breeze that in the early afternoon always made it possible to race, offering on the two race courses wind conditions always around 7-8 knots, typical of the Romagna Riviera.
The under-15 category, the most numerous with 164 competitors, after qualifying for the first two days (6 races) was divided with the first 82 in the overall ranking, who moved into the gold fleet, while the second half of the ranking was grouped into the silver fleet.
On Wednesday, after a total of nine races, the podium positions in all categories were very close to each other in terms of points, if not even tied, but with the three races contested on Thursday and the maximum number (two) of discards already allocated after the ninth race, the situation changed dramatically. The gaps materialised in the first five positions, rewarding the most consistent. On Friday, after the prize lottery that took place before taking to the water, demonstrating that the Open Skiff class, despite being a World Championship, wants to maintain a sporting spirit that is both competitive and fun, confirmed by the fact that even during the regatta a “free style” section of the course was proposed (standing position to be maintained for one side delimited by buoys), the fleets raced a further three races (U15), bringing the total number of races to 12 out of the 14 scheduled in the programme; four races for the Under 12 and Under 17: On Friday, the last day of the championship, two more U15 races and one U12 and U17 race will be held, which will in some cases decide podium positions.
The Club Nautico Rimini, in collaboration with the Italian Sailing Federation, the national and international Open Skiff class, managed to organise this Championship, which will go down in history for having broken all records in terms of participants, in an excellent way. Social events, organisation on land and in the water were perfect, as Romagna on the other hand knows how to do, and for the almost 300 participants together with coaches and parents it was a beautiful week of sport and sharing. Great work was also done by the race committee, the jury and the referees, who followed the competitors on the water to judge any infringements of the rules, assigning penalties live.
Under 17
The Italian (CVCastiglionese) Nicolò Giomarelli is back in the lead after overtaking the Frenchman on Thursday: with a 1-8-5-1 the Italian is leading by 6 points over the French Moritz Blum (9-10-1-3) and 14 over the other Frenchwoman Margot Berenger, first female and third overall. Fourth was German Kreutzer, two points off the podium; fourth was Polish Hubert Staron.
Under 12
The Ukrainian-riminal Yasnolobov is practically already on the top step of the podium; the Italian Fabio Serra (LNI del Sulcis) and the Polish Jan Waskiewicz have tried to keep up with him, in second and third place respectively. Fourth was Lapo Manigrasso (CV Talamone) and fifth Aurora Milanese (Circolo vela Arco), the first female. Both are very close in terms of points to the third place and so with the last race on Friday they could also be aiming for at least third place.
With Friday the curtain will therefore come down on this World Championship, which has once again demonstrated the liveliness of the OpenSkiff class, which wants to bring young people closer to sailing and racing, but without too much competitive pressure. A colourful and smart world, which wants to entertain and share experiences, which for the youngsters will remain important, if not unforgettable. On Friday we will have the new world champions, but the real victory is to have had 300 happy helmsmen in this week, with their families even from very distant countries, such as the USA, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil.
Tomorrow’s start is scheduled for 1 pm, the last chance to see the Rimini sea coloured by 300 white, red and black sailboats!
