The World Sailing World Championships are held only once every four years, at the midpoint of the Olympic cycle, so it’s the first indicator of who to look for in two years time.
What did we learn? Every event is wide open.
None of the winners from 2014 in Santander (ESP) repeated and only two of the gold medalists from Rio in 2016 managed to get back on the top step: Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) in the men’s RS:X class and Sime Fantela (CRO), now with brother Mihovil Fantela (CRO) in the men’s 49er division.
Otherwise, there were new stars emerging, but the French and Dutch had the best of the event, winning seven medals and six, respectively.
The Dutch had the most wins, with three, including van Rijsselberghe, Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz in the women’s 49er FX and Lilian de Geus in women’s RS:X. France won with Kevin Peponnet and Jeremie Mion in men’s 470 and Nicolas Parlier in the new Kiteboard event for men.
Although it won’t be on the Tokyo program, the women’s Kiteboard showcased American star Daniela Moroz – a 17-year-old high schooler – who made quite an impression.
She won her second Kiteboard World Championship in the last three years, having also won the Kiteboard-only Worlds in 2016. She routed the field in the waters off of Aarhus (DEN) in the 16-race series for an event that will be introduced in the Tokyo Games for the first time.
She won with just 13 points – lowest being best – against 26 for runner-up Elena Kalinina (RUS) and 40.0 for bronze medalist Alexa Fancelli (FRA). Moroz won 14 of the 16 races and finished second and third in the other two! Summaries:
World Sailing World Championships
Aarhus (DEN) ~ 30 July-12 August 2018
(Full results here)
Men:
RS:X: 1. Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED), 58.0 net points; 2. Kiran Badloe (NED), 85.0; 3. Louis Giard (FRA), 92.0; 4. Kiran Holmes Martin (GBR), 95.0; 5. Pawel Tarnowski (POL), 102.0; 6. Mattia Camboni (ITA), 104.0; 7. Byron Kokkalanis (GRE), 104.0; 8. Daniele Benedetti (ITA), 118.0.
Laser: 1. Pavlos Kontides (CYP), 59.0; 2. Matthew Wearn (AUS), 61.0; 3. Philipp Buhl (GER), 70.0; 4. Sam Meech (NZL), 79.0; 5. Elliot Hanson (GBR), 80.0; 6. Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR), 83.0; 7. Tom Burton (AUS), 85.0; 8. Nick Thompson (GBR), 102.0.
Finn: 1. Zsombor Berecz (HUN), 70.0; 2. Max Salminen (SWE), 74.0; 3. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), 76.0; 4. Josh Junior (NZL), 76.0; 5. Tom Ramshaw (CAN), 83.0; 6. Nicholas Heiner (NED), 85.0; 7. Facundo Olezza (ARG), 87.0; 8. Edward Wright (GBR), 89.0.
470: 1. Kevin Peponnet/Jeremie Mion (FRA), 56.0; 2. Tetsuya Isozaki/Akira Takayanagi (JPN), 60.0; 3. Jordi Xammar Hernandez/Nicolas Rodriguez (ESP), 62.0; 4. Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE), 64.0; 5. Mathew Belcher/Will Ryan (NZL), 65.0; 6. Keiju Okada/Jumpei Hokazono (JPN), 77.0; 7. Stuart McNay/David Hughes (USA), 86.0; 8. Carl-Fredrik Fock/Marcus Dackhammar (SWE), 89.0.
49er: 1. Sime Fantella/Mihovil Fantella (CRO), 72.0; 2. Mathieu Frei/Noe Delpech (FRA), 91.0; 3. Tim Fischer/Fabian Graf (GER), 93.0; 4. Erik Heil/Thomas Ploessel (GER), 100.0; 5. James Peters/Fynn Sterritt (GBR), 102.0; 6. Dylan Fletcher-Scott/Stuart Bithell (GBR), 104.0; 7. Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZL), 108.0; 8. Lucas Rual/Emile Amoros (FRA), 109.0.
Kiteboard: 1. Nicolas Parlier (FRA), 27.0; 2. Guy Bridge (GBR), 31.0; 3. Maxine Nocher (FRA), 40.0; 4. Theo de Ramecourt (FRA), 40.6; 5. Connor Bainbridge (GBR), 46.5; 6. Axel Mazella (FRA), 46.5; 7. Oliver Bridge (GBR), 48.0; 8. Theo Lhostis (FRA), 62.0.
Women:
RS:X: 1. Lilian de Geus (NED), 48.0; 2. Charline Picon (FRA), 78.0; 3. Yunxiu Lu (CHN), 82.0; 4. Emma Wilson (GBR), 85.0; 5. Zofia Noceti-Klapacka (POL), 93.2; 6. Peina Chen (CHN), 97.0; 7. Marta Maggetti (ITA), 108.0; 8. Hongmei Shi (CHN), 113.0.
Laser Radial: 1. Emma Plasschaert (BEL), 66.0; 2. Marit Bouwmeester (NED), 75.0; 3. Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), 85.0; 4. Monika Mikkola (FIN), 95.5; 5. Paige Railey (USA), 98.0; 6. Sarah Douglas (CAN), 99.0; 7. Alison Young (GBR), 107.0; 8. Maria Erdi (HUN), 115.0.
470: 1. Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka (JPN), 33.0; 2. Silvia Mas Depares/Patricia Cantero (ESP), 39.0; 3. Hannah Mills/Elidih McIntyre (GBR), 41.0; 4. Camille Lecointre/Aloise Retornaz (FRA), 42.0; 5. Barbara Cornudella/Sara Lopez (ESP), 67.0; 6. Mengxi Wei/Haiyan Gao (CHN), 69.0; 7. Benedetta de Salle/Alessandra Dubbini (ITA), 72.0; 8. Amy Seabright/Anna Carpenter (GBR), 88.0.
49er FX: 1. Annemiek Bekkering/Annette Duetz (NED), 89.0; 2. Tanja Frank/Lorena Abicht (AUT), 91.0; 3. Sophie Weguelin/Sophie Ainsworth (GBR), 94.0; 4. Martina Grael/Kahena Kunze (BRA), 102.0; 5. Jena Hansen/Katja Salskov-Iversen (DEN), 103.0; 6. Odile van Aanholt/Marieke Jongens (NED), 106.0; 7. Ida Marie Baad Nielsen/Marie Thusgaard Olsen (DEN), 111.0; 8. Alexandra Maloney/Molly Meech (NZL), 120.0.
Kiteboard: 1. Daniela Moroz (USA), 13.0; 2. Elena Kalinina (RUS), 26.0; 3. Alexia Fancelli (FRA), 40.0; 4. Stephanie Bridge (GBR), 45.0; 5. Breiana Whitehead (AUS), 59.0; 6. Anais Mai Desjardins (FRA), 64.0; 7. Leonie Meyer (GER), 90.0; 8. Natalie Flintrop-Clarke (AUS), 104.0.
Mixed:
Nacra 17: 1. Ruggero Tita/Caterina Marianna Banti (ITA), 69.0; 2. Nathan Outteridge/Haylee Outteridge (AUS), 70.0; 3. Santiago Lange/Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG), 72.0; 4. Lin Ea Cenholt/Christian Peter Luebeck (DEN), 75.0; 5. Samuel Albrecht/Gabriela Nicolino de Sa (BRA), 81.0; 6. Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin (AUS), 91.0; 7. Vittorio Bissaro/Maelle Frascaro (ITA), 93.0; 8. John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR), 106.0.
