Conti-Clapcich bronze in Hyeres, other Italians not so good

The first European leg of the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup, the World Cup for Olympic and Paralympic classes that for five days brought together in the windy French resort overlooking the Mediterranean Sea the best sailors engaged in preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympics, closed yesterday in Hyeres. A day dedicated to the running of the ten Medal Races, the dry races with double points reserved for the top 10 of each individual class, the epilogue of an event characterized by the high technical level of the crews in the race and by the usual, exceptional spectacle offered on the water by Olympic sailing. The Italians took home bronze among the 49er FX by Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich and eighth place among the 470 by Gabrio Zandonà and Andrea Trani.

ZANDONA’ AND TRANI’S MEDAL
Two Italian crews engaged in the Medals, contested on the Echo and Delta race courses, the closest to the shore, with a nice taut easterly wind that touched 20 knots of intensity and formed sea: a massive dose of adrenaline that was broadcast live on ISAF’s You Tube channel and ESPN’s website. First to take to the water was the men’s 470 crew of Gabrio Zandonà and Andrea Trani, who finished the Medal in last place, a result that nevertheless did not change the ranking (eighth) that the two occupied before the Medal.

… AND THAT OF CONTI-CLAPCICH
In mid-afternoon, the last class to have their Medal Race, it was the turn of the 49er FX girls, the bronze medalists at the 2014 World Championships in Santander Giulia Conti-Francesca Clapcich, who were starting, before the final race, from third place in the standings with a seven-point gap from the leaders, Brazil’s reigning rainbow champions Soffiatti Grael-Kunze. Conti-Clapcich sailed an attacking regatta that ended in fifth place just ahead of the Brazilians, a result that did not change the ranking position of the two Italian women, who thus return home with a bronze medal, yet another positive performance on the road to Rio 2016.

RESULTS.
Nacra 17 1.Billy Besson-Marie Riou/FRA; 2.Mandy Mulder-Coen de Koning/NED; 3.Renee Groeneveld-Steven Krol/NED; 11.Vittorio Bissaro-Silvia Sicouri; 17.Federica Salvà-Francesco Bianchi; 31.Lorenzo Bressani-Giovanna Micol.

RS:X F 1.Lilian De Geus/NED; 2.Charline Pichon/FRA; 3.Patricia Freitsa/BRA; 13.Laura Linares; 18.Marta Maggetti; 23.Flavia Tartaglini; 36.Veronica Fanciulli.

RS:X M 1.Pierre Le Coq/FRA; 2.Piotr Myszka/POL; 3.Byron Kokkalanis/GRE; 16.Mattia Camboni; 24.Federico Esposito; 25.Daniele Benedetti; 37.Marco Baglione.

49er 1.Peter Burling-Blair Tuke/NZL; 2.Nathan Outteridge-Iain Jensen/AUS; 3.Erik Heil-Thomas Ploessel/GER; 17.Stefano Cherin-Andrea Tesei; 23.Jacopo Plazzi-Umberto Molineris; 27.Ruggero Tita-Giacomo Cavalli; 29.Giuseppe Angilella-Pietro Zucchetti; 34.Luca Dubbini-Roberto Dubbini.

49er FX 1.Ida Nielsen-Marie Olsen/NOR; 2.Martine Grael-Kahena Kunze/BRA; 3.Giulia Conti-Francesca Clapcich; 31.Maria O. Raggio-Paola Bergamaschi; 38.G. Genesius-Francesca Volpi.

Finn 1.Giles Scott/GBR; 2.Vasilij Zbogar/SLO; 3.Edward Wright/GBR; 17.Michele Paoletti; 18.Filippo Baldassari; 29.Giorgio Poggi; 32.Enrico Voltolini.

Laser Standard 1.Tom Burton/AUS; 2.Nick Thompson/GBR; 3.Robert Scheidt/BRA; 20.Francesco Marrai; 27.Giovanni Coccoluto; 33.Alessio Spadoni; 38.Enrico Strazzera.

Laser Radial 1.Evi Van Acker/BEL; 2.Gintare Volungeviciute Scheidt/LTU; 3.Josefin Olsson/SWE; 19.Silvia Zennaro; 25.Joyce Floridia.

470 F 1.Fernanda Oliveira-Ana Barbachan/BRA; 2.Jo Aleh-Polly Powrie/NZL; 3.Camille Lecointre-Helene Defranche/FRA; 16.Roberta Caputo-Alice Sinno; 23.Elena Berta-Giulia Paolillo; 25.Benedetta Di Salle-Alessandra Dubbini.

470 M 1.Sime Fantela-Igor Marenic/CRO; 2.Mathew Belcher-William Ryan/AUS; 3.Luke Patience-Elliott Willis/GBR; 8.Gabrio Zandonà-Andrea Trani; 25.Matteo Capurro-Matteo Puppo; 35.Simon Sivitz Kosuta-Jas Farneti.

NEXT APPOINTMENT WEYMOUTH
Next up for the ISAF Sailing World Cup is the Weymouth, England leg, scheduled for June 8-14. As a reminder, starting this year the World Cup for Olympic and Paralympic classes will be held under a new format designed to limit participation to only the best crews at the international level. In Hyeres as in Weymouth and Qingdao (China, Sept. 14-20), therefore, the number of participants for each class is limited to 40, a fleet selected through the ISAF Ranking Lists (30 entries) and the EUROSAF circuit qualifying trials (10 entries), which in the case of Weymouth is the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik (Netherlands, May 26-30). Instead, the grand finale of the Abu Dhabi World Cup, scheduled in the UAE from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, will be reserved for the top 20 in each class.