MATISSE PACAUD / LUCIE DE GENNES (FRA), DEFEND THEIR TITLE AS 470 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONS

The final day of the 470 Junior World Championships started with perfect weather conditions. Average wind speeds and warm sun allowed the competition to be completed without major disturbances. Today two but different races were sailed - at the beginning all teams except the top ten sailed the last fleet race - and then the medal race took place where only the top ten teams sailed the final race of the Championship.

A constant battle all week allowed the leading teams to sail safely today – needing only to avoid penalties to take the win. Even with a safe start, with all competitors passing behind, the French Matisse PACAUD and Lucie DE GENNES managed to win the medal race too and brought home again the gold medal as they did so the year before.  Second place overall and silver medal went to a very young Israeli crew of just under 17 who also won first place in the U21 (under 21) category. The French Manon PENNANÉAC'H / Pierre WILLIOT took third place. As the latter mentioned, the French recipe for victory is simple - a lot of training. The Polish team of Kacper PASZEK / Oliwia LASKOWSKA missed the podium by 6 points,  followed by Neus BALLESTER BOVER / Jaime WIZNER from Spain who came 5th overall and second in the U21 category. The top six positions were concluded with the Germans Laura PUKROPSKI and Thorben SCHLÜTER.

In the U21 mixed category, after the Israelis that mastered the rest of the fleet and won the first place, the Spanish team of Neus BALLESTER BOVER / Jaime WIZNER came second with the Norwegians Julia JACOBSEN/Emil FORSLUND grabbing the third place and the bronze medal. The Slovenians Martin FRAS / Mija ŠKERLAVAJ came fourth, followed by the French Lomane VALADE / Julien BUNEL and the Polish duo of Rafał POGORZELSKI / Małgorzata GÓRNISIEWICZ that finished sixth.

A beautiful day of competition was supposed to last until the evening, but as if on purpose, a heavy downpour started during the awards ceremony which was not predicted by any of the forecasts. The prize giving ceremony took place under the large tent where the top teams were awarded, and the organizers were rewarded with a warm and cozy spirit of athletes loudly supporting each other.

Watch the medal Race here! 

Results