Laser Radial Sailors in the Mix at Youth World Championships

Laser Radial Sailors in the Mix at Youth World Championships

The Laser Radial sailors led the way for the New Zealand team at the youth sailing world championships in China, with both inside the top four after the first day of racing.

Josh Armit opened his account in perfect fashion by winning the first race and followed it up with a 14th in the second race to be fourth overall, six points behind Italy's Giacomo Giovanelli in the lead.

Annabelle Rennie-Younger made a solid start to the girl's Laser Radial, posting an 11th and fourth to be in third overall. Charlotte Rose (USA) lay down a strong marker by posting two bullets on the first day.

The rest of the New Zealand team recorded mixed results with Nacra 15 pair Greta Stewart and Henry Haslett the next best of the Kiwis in ninth.

As many as 374 of the world's best youth sailors from 60 nations are racing across nine classes in Sanya. They tackled grey skies and a variable 6-12 knot easterly breeze as most competitors were looking to get off to a steady start.

Armit did just that. The 16-year-old is hoping to add another world title to the one he won at the under-17 Laser Radial world championships in the Netherlands in August. He dominated that competition, winning by a whopping 41 points, and was also fourth in the under-19 division and is up against a lot of those sailors again this week.

"It's really good, tough competition," Armit said. "It's great to be back sailing against all of these other guys.

"I had a good first race today. I had a good start and it was good from there. In the second race I didn't have that great a start and I struggled to work my way back through the pack.

"It's great to be representing New Zealand. I have tried to qualify two other times so it's great to be here. It's a nice venue with a range of conditions. I'm enjoying it."

Armit is like most of the NZL Foundation youth team, racing in his first youth sailing world championships, with Stewart and Haslett the only members of the 14-strong squad to have competed at the pinnacle event for youth sailors previously. Stewart won bronze medals at the last two youth worlds in the 29er with her older sister Kate.

Four more days of racing are scheduled.

Results and standings after the first day of the youth sailing world champioships in Sanya, China, yesterday:

Boy's Laser Radial (51 boats)

1st: Giacomo Giovanelli (ITA) 2 7 - 9 points
2nd: Junrui Lu (SGP) 4 8 - 12 pts
3rd: Yoshihiro Suzuki (JPN) 12 1 - 13 pts

4th: Josh Armit (NZ) 1 14 - 15 pts

Girl's Laser Radial (40 boats)

1st: Charlotte Rose (USA) 1 1 - 2 pts
2nd: Dolores Moreira Fraschini (URU) 3 2 - 5 pts
3rd: Annabelle Rennie-Younger (NZL) 11 4 - 15 pts

Nacra 15 (18 boats)

1st Lucas Claeyssens / Anne Vandenberghe (BEL) 1 (2) 1 - 2 pts
2nd: Shannon Dalton / Jayden Dalton (AUS) 2 (13) 2 - 4 pts
3rd: Mark Brunsvold / Dylan Heinz (USA) 5 1 (6) - 6 pts

9th: Greta Stewart / Henry Haslett (NZL) (14) 6 8 - 14 pts

Boy's 420 (26 boats)

1st: Ido Bilik / Noam Homri (ISR) 2 1 - 3 pts
2nd: Otto Henry / Rome Featherstone (AUS) 4 2 - 6 pts
3rd: Thomas Rice / Trevor Bornarth (USA) 3 9 - 12 pts

23rd: James Barnett / Sam Street (NZL) 21 24 - 45 pts

Girl's 420 (25 boats)

1st: Linoy Korn / Yael Steigman (ISR) 4 2 - 6 pts
2nd: Hatty Morsley / Pippa Cropley (GBR) 5 6 - 11 pts
3rd: Barbara Dzik / Hanna Dzik (POL) 2 13 - 15 pts

14th: Xanthe Copeland / Annabel Cave (NZL) 19 11 - 30 pts

Boy's 29er (30 boats)

1st: Mathias Berthet / Alexander Franks-Penty (NOR) 1 1 (3) - 2 pts
2nd: Kasper Nordenram / Linus Berglund (SWE) 3 (16) 1 - 4 pts
3rd: Theo Revil / Gautier Guevel (FRA) 4 2 (8) - 6 pts

16th: Seb Lardies / Scott Mckenzie (NZL) 12 (21) 13 - 25 pts

Girl's 29er (20 boats)

1st: Margherita Porro / Sofia Leoni (ITA) (1) 1 1 - 2 pts
2nd: Zoya Novikova / Diana Sabirova (RUS) 2 2 (12) 4 pts
3rd: Maiwenn Jacquin / Enora Percheron (FRA) 4 (10) 2 - 6 pts

13th: Crystal Sun / Olivia Hobbs (NZL) (14) 9 14 - 23 pts

Boy's RS:X (26 entries)

1st: Yoav Cohen (ISR) 1 1 (3) - 2 pts
2nd: Hao Chen (CHN) 2 (6) 1 - 3 pts
3rd: Fernando Gonzalez de la Madrid Trueba (ESP) (5) 3 2 - 5 pts

14th: Max van der Zalm (NZL) 9 (16) 13 - 22 pts

Girl's RS:X (19 entries)

1st: Emma Wilson (GBR) 2 1 - 3 pts
2nd: Ting Yu (CHN) 1 3 - 4 pts
3rd: Giorgia Speciale (ITA) 3 2 - 5 pts

15th: Veerle Ten Have (NZL) 14 16 - 30 pts

ENDS

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