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For most of the 13-strong NZL Sailing Foundation team, the 2023 youth sailing world championships was their first taste of international competition.
And, says Yachting New Zealand’s talent development manager Geoff Woolley, though they weren't consistent enough to challenge for the medals, the lessons from Buzios this week are sure to leave our young sailors hungry for more.
The Kiwi contingent, led by Woolley and Yachting New Zealand youth manager Sam Mackay, will return from Brazil empty-handed with Joe Leith and Josh Ferrissey coming closest to the podium with their overall fifth place in the boys 420 event.
The pair finished only eight points off the bronze and were denied a late tilt at the podium when racing was cancelled on the final day of the five-day regatta.
Aimee Bright (11th, girls windfoil), Hugo Wigglesworth (12th, boys kitefoil), Naiomi Ferrissey (13th, girls ILCA 6), and Sean and Rowan Kensington (13th, boys 29er) all finished just outside the top ten, with Tessa Clinton and Nicola Hume (girls 420) 15th, Lucy Leith and Chloe Turner (girls 29er) 18th, George Pilkington (boys ILCA 6) 20th, and Ben Rist (boys windfoil) 28th slightly deeper in their fleets.
According to Woolley, all the sailors showed glimpses of their best but lacked the consistency to charge up the leaderboard.
"Buzios delivered an incredible week of sailing, and the event has been a great experience for all our sailors," Woolley said.
"We had some very encouraging individual performances on different days and in different conditions but, overall, the team wasn’t consistent enough through the week."
Naiomi Ferrissey in action in the girls ILCA 6. Photos / World Sailing
Aimee Bright narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish in the girls windfoil. Photos / World Sailing
Bright claimed New Zealand's only race win on day two of the girls iQFOIL, while Leith and Turner, Clinton and Hume, and Naiomi Ferrissey (twice) managed to finish a race in the top three.
The Kensington brothers also recovered from a sluggish start that saw them 25th overall in the 29er fleet after the first day.
Leith and Ferrissey were the clear standouts, however, finishing with four top-fives across their eight completed races - including a second place.
"They will take a lot of confidence from the fact that they were right in the hunt for medals,” Woolley said.
"Our lack of big-fleet race experience showed for our sailors. A lot of hard work is required now but we’ve learnt valuable lessons which can be shared with all the youth sailors back home."
Hugo Wigglesworth finished 12th in the boys kitefoil. Photos / World Sailing
George Pilkington (20th, boys ILCA 6). Photos / World Sailing
Tessa Clinton and Nicola Hume (15th, girls 420). Photos / World Sailing
Sean and Rowan Kensington fought their way back from 25th in the boys 29er competition to 13th. Photos / World Sailing
Though disappointed to miss out on the podium, Leith was impressed with their overall performance in challenging conditions.
"It was a good regatta with pretty tight racing, and you had to be on your game to do well this week - as proven by the Americans [Freddie Parkin and Asher Beck], who won it last year but only finished eighth this year," Leith said.
"We did leak a few points with boat breakages and other little mishaps throughout the regatta but we're happy to get fifth overall and get some solid top-five finishes."
The pair's focus now turns to an even bigger challenge - the 420 open world championships in Rio de Janeiro in early January.
"We're looking forward to heading over there to try and put our learnings into practise and give some international racing another crack."
Final results and standings from the 2023 youth world championships in Armação dos Búzios, Brazil:
Boys windfoil (32 boards)
1. Stanislaw Trepczynski (Pol) (5) 1 1 3 2 4 (11) 4 1 1 1 1 1 (24) 3 1 1 1 - 26 pts
2. Leonardo Tomasini (Ita) 3 3 3 1 1 1 3 2 3 (5) 1 5 2 (9) 4 3 (7) 5 - 40 pts
3. Noé Garandeau (Fra) 2 1 1 (9) 3 8 1 (9) 3 (35BFD) 3 3 9 2 9 7 3 6 - 61 pts
28. Ben Rist (NZ) 11 23 17 (29) 23 27 28 26 27 25 25 27 28 (29) (33DNC) 28 29 27 - 371 pts
Girls windfoil (21 boards)
1. Kristyna Pinosova (Cze) 3 (8) 2 2 (9) 2 7 4 3 7 8 2 3 2 (10) 2 2 2 - 51 pts
2. Lina Erzen (Slo) (22DSQ) 2 (12) 10 4 4 5 9 (13) 4 6 11 2 1 1 4 3 1 - 67 pts
3. Darcey Shaw (GBR) 8STP 5 1 9 (22RET) (22UFD) 3 (22UFD) 2 3 2 3 6 5 4 3 7 7- 68 PTS
11. Aimee Bright (NZ) 8 (13) (13) 13 5 1 4 7 4 11 5 (16) 8 12 7 11 9 8 - 113 pts
Boys kitefoil (19 boards)
1. Max Maeder (Sgp) (1) (1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (13) - 11 pts
2. Qibin Huang (Chn) (3) (4) 2 2 (3) 3 2 2 2 2 3STP 2 2 1 - 23 pts
3. Riccardo Pianosi (Ita) 2 2 4 5 2 2 3 3 3 3 (20DSQ) (20DNC) (6) 5 - 34 pts
12. Hugo Wigglesworth (NZ) (13) 10 9 10 11 (12) 10 8 11 (13) 11 11 12 10 - 113 pts
Boys ILCA 6 (48 boats)
1. Mattia Cesana (Ita) 18 1 (24) 2 1 6 11 3 3 - 45 pts
2. Luka Zabukovec (Slo) (49BFD) 4 21 1 18 4 1 7 4 - 60 pts
3. Joao Pontes (Por) 2 21 22 6 (28) 1 8 2 1 - 63 pts
20. George Pilkington (NZ) 22 13 9 (37) 25 9 30 20 19 - 147 pts
Girls ILCA 6 (45 boats)
1. Roos Wind (Ned) (46BFD) 3 1 7 17 1 1 1 1 - 32 pts
2. Emma Mattivi (Ita) 1 8 (11) 1 6 6 4 7 3 - 36 pts
3. Sienna Wright (Irl) 5 2 7 5 8 3 5 (10) 2 - 37 pts
13. Naiomi Ferrissey (NZ) 13 (26) 3 3 25 10 14 15 14 - 97 pts
Boys 29er (30 boats)
1. Hugo Revil/Karl Devaux (Fra) 5 1 1 1 (11) 5 1 4 2 2 6 1 - 29 pts
2. Alex Demurtas/Giovanni Santi (Ita) (12) 9 10 2 2 2 7 1 1 6 2 3 - 45 pts
3. Ben O'Shaughnessy/Ethan Spain (Irl) 10 10 5 12 9 7 11 (16) 7 4 5 9 - 89 pts
13. Sean Kensington/Rowan Kensington (NZ) 25 15 25 5 7 16 (31BFD) 7 11 12 7 11 - 141 pts
Girls 29er (25 boats)
1. Ewa Lewandowska/Julia Maria Zmudzinska (Pol) 1 1 1 1 1 4STP 2 (8) 2 4 4 - 21 pts
2. Sarah Jannin/Fleur Babin (Fra) (8) 4 4 2 3 8 1 6 1 1 1 - 31 pts
3. Boróka Feher/Szonja Feher (Hun) (26BFD) 2 9 7 6 5 4 3 9 15 8 - 68 pts
18. Lucy Leith/Chloe Turner (NZ) 18 12 17 12 19 12 16 (26DNF) 21 3 10 - 140 pts
Boys 420 (24 boats)
1. Quan Cardi/Mattia Tognocchi (Ita) 1 (4) 3 4 1 3 2 4 - 18 pts
2. Zou Schemmel/Jean-Philippe Boudard (Fra) (25BFD) 1 1 6 5 10 3 1 - 27 pts
3. Miguel Angel Morales Hernandez/Alejandro Martin (Esp) 2 6 4 11 3STP 8 6 (13) - 40 pts
5. Joe Leith/Josh Ferrissey (NZ) 3 11 (15) 3 13 2 11 5 - 48 pts
Girls 420 (21 boats)
1. Joana Gonc/Gabriela Vassel (Bra) 16 11 1 1 1 2 4 (5) 1 1 - 11 pts
2. Maayan Shemesh/Emilie Sdot-Yam 5 6 4 3 2 6 7 (8) - 33 pts
3. Kerkezou Iakovina/Giannouli Danai 3 2 9 (22DSQ) 6 4 5 6 - 35 pts
15. Tessa Clinton/Nicola Hume (NZ) 13 (16) 3STP 15 16 15 10 7 - 79 pts
Full results here.
