Home strengths
Poland and Italy have dominated across women's, men's and mixed divisions at the Junior Worlds Championship.
15 July 2021
Advertisement
Both Italy and Poland have secured massive victories across the women’s, men’s and mixed 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 divisions at the 2021 Junior Worlds Championship.
Poland’s Mikolaj Staniul, with Jakub Sztroch, capped a wire-to-wire victory by winning the final four races in a row and no finishes outside the top 10. Their 27 point margin of victory is the largest of any Junior World Championship, void of any finishes outside the top 10.
In 2018, the pair finished eighth before finishing fourth the following year.
“We were not looking at the overall rankings. We treated each race as a separate story, and we approach each one with maximum concentration,” said Staniul.
“We implemented this plan [and] this attitude kept us moving in the right direction.”
Advertisement
Austria’s Keanu Prettner with Jakob Flachenburger leapfrogged Hernan Umpierre with Uruguay’s Fernando Diz on the final day with a 4, 3, 2 to take the silver medal by only a single point.
Prettner has a history of strong performances at the Junior Worlds, having been the overall leader and highest placing male/mixed team in the 49erFX in 2018.
In the 49erFX, Italy’s Jan Germani with Giorgia Bertuzzi secured a dominant victory, finishing in the top 10 until the final race.
This is the second victory in a row for Italy in the 49erFX, as Alexandra Stalder with Silvia Speri winning the 2019 edition of the regatta.
Netherlands Willemijn Offerman with Elise Ruyter took the silver medal while Germany’s Marla Bergmann with Hanna Wille took third.
The Nacra 17 fleet was dominated again by another Italian team of Gianluigi Ugolini with Maria Giubelei. The pair won eleven of fifteen races to secure their second Junior World title.
France’s Margaux Billy with Leo Maurin finished second, while Titouan Petard with Lou Berthomeiu, also from France, finished third.
Full results of this year’s competition are available here.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
