16-18 knots. Bright sunshine and a medal race day to show off the sport of windsurfing in its very best light.
The RS:X Women went first.
Racing on the fin from the start, it was Maja Dziarnowska (POL7) who was the first out of the blocks.
Leading the group out to the right hand side of the course, she was in close company with Lee Korsitz (ISR1111) and Bryony Shaw GBR94) all the way up the first beat. Meanwhile Blanca Manchon (ESP1) and Mayaan Davidovich (ISR10) went hard left. There wasn’t much in it at the first rounding.
The rolling battle went on all the way downwind to the bottom gate and up to the top mark again but it was Maja and Lee who finally stamped their authority on the race on the last downwind.
Maja was in command at speeds up to 18 knots, she punched into the slalom section to take the race by 80 metres. It didn’t change the overall results but Lee’s 2nd secured a 24 point advantage over 3rd placed Pauline Perrin (FRA53). The new RS:X European Champion is Sofia Klepacka (POL8) who cruised through the medal race to finish 7th and win overall by 8 points.
Over in the RS:X Men’s fleet, there were two battles to watch.
One for third place and one between Shahar Zubari (ISR11) and Nimrod Mashiah (ISR21). The outcome of the first was inextricably linked to the outcome of the second.
At the start, the 10 were behind the start boat ready to sheet in and hit the line at full speed. Nimrod was paying close attention to his countryman who tacked onto port to head off to the right hand side. Nimrod tacked on top to establish a close cover. They were joined by Richard Stauffacher (SUI31) whilst the rest rode their fins all the way out to the left.
All that is except Ivan Pastor Lafuente (ESP7) who took the middle of the upwind leg determined to give himself every chance with a conservative strategy.
The duel between the two Israelis went on all the way up the first beat. Nimrod had only one aim in view. Drive Shahar down the order and deny him the bronze medal. In this, he was successful. When Shahar finally broke the cover and found fresh breeze he was faced with an impossible task.
Ivan meanwhile was not going to ignore the opportunity that presented itself. He hung on to take the bronze medal with Byron Kokkalanis (GRE8) racing just behind Piotr Myszka (POL82) whose points advantage had already assured him of the Title.
We’ve had a fantastic week’s racing. This venue is perfect for windsurfing. A big thank you to all the volunteers who stepped up to the plate to give the city of Burgas and the Bulgarian Sailing Federation a hand. And a big thank you to BULSAF and all their sponsors…
RS:X Men’s Top 10
1 POL 82 Myszka Piotr 17.0
2 GRE 8 Byron Kokkalanis 41.0
3 ESP 7 Ivan Pastor Lafuente 53.0
4 ISR 11 Shahar Zubari 55.0
5 FRA 77 Pierre Le Coq 62.0
6 CYP 1 Andreas Cariolou 68.0
7 SUI 31 Richard Stauffacher 80.0
8 ISR 21 Nimrod Mashiah 81.0
9 FRA 115 Nicolas Le Gal 116.0
10. FRA 19 Louis-Benoit Hug 122.0
RS:X Women’s Top 10
1. POL 8 Sofia Klepacka 43.0
2. ISR 1111 Lee-el Korzits 51.0
3. FRA 53 Pauline Perrin 75.0
4. ESP 1 Blanca Manchon Dominguez 82.0
5. GBR 94 Bryony E Shaw 88.0
6. UKR 9 Olga Maslivet 92.0
7. POL 7 Dziarnowska Maja 95.0
8. ITA 11 Laura Linares 100.0
9. POL 20 Brygola Agata 110.0
10. ISR 10 Maayan Davidovich 113
