Shifty conditions were the order of the day, with massive variance in pressure across the course, from 10-16 knots. The breeze was up more for races 7 and 8, easing to around 10 knots for race 9. The teams sail together, with the men’s, open and ladies crews all racing against each other.

Guillaume Pirouelle/Valentin Sipan (FRA) and Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabro (ITA) are leading the Championship on equal points, with the French ahead on tiebreak.

Behind these top two, there is a 26 point spread between the third and tenth placed boat, so plenty of room to manoeuvre up or down the leaderboard. Three different race leaders with Israel’s Ian Barzelay/Tal Harari winning race 7, Giacomo Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabro (ITA) race 8 and Pedro Martinez/Luis Bugllo (ESP) race 9.

Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabro (ITA) © fotofiore.com

Pirouelle/Sipan’s results today brought to an end their run of race wins from the past four races. “The wind was more difficult than the other days. We didn’t have very good boat speed when the wind was lighter. We are also a bit tired,” said Pirouelle. Sipan added, “This has been the hardest day so far.”

Feeling a bit jaded is not surprising, as the pair have been non-stop over the past couple of months racing at CIMA, Irish Youth Nationals, Nieuwpoort Week, the ISAF Youth Worlds and last week’s 420 Worlds to name a few events – and always finishing on the podium.

“We hope we will do our best for the next three races. I hope we will win here,” concluded Pirouelle, who is seeking a successful defence of the Junior European Championship title they won last year in Nieuwpoort.

Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabro have been in the top 10 throughout the Championship and hold a card in hand over the French for the next three races as they still have a discard they can play, compared to the French who carry two double-digit scores.

Wade Waddell/Henry Fernberger (USA) © fotofiore.com

Up into third are Wade Waddell/Henry Fernberger who, apart from a 24th in race 2, have finished in the top 10 in every other race.

Waddell competed at the 2011 Optimist Worlds, finishing 7th overall, the best result from a USA sailor in many years. Aged 15, Waddell moved into 420 sailing in March and has been travelling to Florida to train every weekend. Fernberger has just turned 16 years old.

At the 420 Worlds last week, the pair finished 15th. Coach Elizabeth Kratzig, said, “He geometrically gets it. He is a very good driver, understands the speed of the boat, is very naturally talented and a hard worker.” And on Fernberger, Kratzig added, “Fernie does a really good job of calling the sag on the line to give the team great starts.”

Annabel Vose/Kirstie Urwin (GBR) © fotofiore.com

Annabel Vose/Kirstie Urwin (GBR) continue to set the pace in the ladies teams, and in 15th overall on the leader board are the top placed of the five ladies teams who qualified through to the gold fleet and are in contention for the Ladies Championship medals.

Redemption to a certain degree for the Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Worlds gold medallists, Ilaria Paternoster/Benedetta Di Salle (ITA), who lost their place in the gold fleet after race 6, but are now leading the silver fleet.

420 Open - Top 10 Overall after 9 Races
1. Guillaume Pirouelle/Valentin Sipan (FRA) – 29 pts
2. Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabrò (ITA) - 29 pts
3. Wade Waddell/Henry Fernberger (USA) - 40 pts
4. Fratzeskos Mpakatsias/Evaggelos Christopoulos (GRE) - 42 pts
5. David Charles/Alex Charles (ESP) - 47 pts
6. Pieter Goedhart/Lars van Stekelenborg (NED) - 50 pts
7. Deniz Bagci/Kaan Tuna (TUR) - 51 pts
8. Koren Bar-Shats/Yehonatan Goldstein (ISR) - 57 pts
9. Pedro Martínez/Luis Bugallo (ESP) - 66 pts
10. Sebastiano Baranzini/Matteo Colombo (SUI) - 66 pts

Two races are scheduled for Thursday 16 August, with the warning signal for the gold fleet at 1330 hours. The final race will take place on Friday 17 August 2012.

Video Highlights from race day 3.

Results

Go to our Facebook Page for Championship Photo Galleries

Top Image: Fleet just after the start © Andrca Camin