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New Zealand claimed a record-equalling fourth medal on the final day of the youth sailing world championships at Corpus Christi, including bronze to Greta Stewart and Tom Fyfe in the Nacra 15.
Greta Stewart and Tom Fyfe won bronze in the Nacra 15 at the youth worlds. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
That bronze comes on the back of the three medals guaranteed on the penultimate day of racing. Josh Armit had already wrapped up gold in the boy's Laser Radial and highlighted his class by finishing second in the final race, Veerle ten Have won the last race to snare silver in the girl's RS:X and Seb Lardies and Scott McKenzie won silver in a dramatic end to the boy's 29er class.
The four medals equalled New Zealand's best haul achieved at the 2016 youth worlds in Malaysia (two silver and two bronze).
The bronze won by the Nacra pair today was particularly significant because it saw Stewart win her third youth worlds medal, joining Chris Dickson (gold 1978-80) as the only New Zealanders to win three medals at the youth sailing world championships.
"That's pretty crazy," said Stewart, who also won bronze medals with sister Kate in the girl's 29er at the 2015 and 2016 youth worlds. "I'm really happy to have won a third medal.
"It was a bit of a hectic day because we got our kite tangled up with our bow at one point so we had a bit going on. Tom had to go upfront and untangle it, so we were a bit worried about our chances. It was a bit of a relief when it was all over."
The pair finished eighth in the final race to finish two points behind the Italian combination of Andrea Spagnolli and Giulia Fava who claimed silver. Argentina had wrapped up the gold yesterday.
The biggest drama came on the boy's 29er course where Lardies and McKenzie narrowly missed out on gold, finishing second on countback behind the Norwegian pair of Mathias Berthet and Alexander Franks-Penty.
The New Zealanders started the day second, 10 points behind Norway, so after a tough start to the final race were more intent on keeping an eye on the Australians to lock up silver. But they went on the attack when they noticed the Norwegians right in front of them on the final downwind leg.
"We made a big decision and soaked in front of them and pushed them past the layline," McKenzie explained. "We got them on starboard and made them come third to last in the race. After the race finished we had no idea who had won. We did all we could in that race and were just hoping for the best.
"It was a bit disappointing [to not win gold] but we came here to get a medal and silver is amazing. We had our chances to win and almost got it. The Norwegians deserve to win. Last year they lost on countback so they've done really well."
The same could be said of the NZL Sailing Foundation youth team who are likely to finish second in the Nations Trophy behind the United States for the best overall country.
On top of the four medals there were some good performances elsewhere and the boy's 420 combination of Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan announced themselves as ones for the future by winning the final race today to finish fifth overall. Menzies (13) and McGlashan (15) are the youngest members of the New Zealand team and were competing in their first youth worlds.
"It has been a phenomenal week and a great team to be a part of," Yachting New Zealand head youth coach Matt Thomas said. "The medal haul shows the determination and effort of the New Zealand sailors to go up against the best in the world and come home with the goods.
"The level of performance shows the quality of sailors in New Zealand and is a testament to the work being done at all levels from clubs through to the programmes provided by Yachting New Zealand."
Results and standings after the final day of the youth sailing world championships at Corpus Christi today:
Boy's 420 (23 boats)
1st: Joseph Hermus / Walter Henry (USA) 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 (5) 5 - 15 points
2nd: Otto Henry / Roma Featherstone (AUS) 8 7 2 2 4 3 2 1 (13) - 29 pts
3rd: Kacper Paszek / Bartek Reiter (POL) 5 5 (19) 5 6 4 3 7 3 - 38 pts
5th: Seb Menzies / Blake McGlashan (NZL) 4 13 10 3 7 6 13 (20) 1 - 57 pts
Girl's 420 (22 boats)
1st: Carmen Cowles / Emma Cowles (USA) 1 1 (23 UFD) 1 1 1 1 1 4 - 11pts
2nd: Vita Heathcote / Emilia Boyle (GBR) 4 2 1 6 4 3 2 2 (10) - 24 pts
3rd: Violette Dorange / Camille Orion (FRA) (8) 7 4 2 6 2 4 4 1 - 30 pts
16th: Cara Higinbottom / Alice Floyd (NZL) 11 12 15 11 16 10 17 (18) 13 - 105 pts
Boy's 29er (25 boats)
1st: Mathias Berthet / Alexander Franks-Penty (NOR) 6 8 1 2 1 1 (26 UFD) 2 5 2 1 5 19 - 53 pts
2nd: Seb Lardies / Scott McKenzie (NZL) 3 1 5 9 3 4 2 7 2 4 6 7 (18) - 53 pts
3rd: Henry Larkings / Miles Davey (AUS) 1 2 2 6 10 7 (26 UFD) 1 3 6 9 2 11 - 60 pts
Girl's 29er (23 boats)
1st: Pia Andersen / Nora Edland (NOR) 2 1 3 (17) 1 1 1 6 6 7 1 1 1 - 31 pts
2nd: Berta Puig / Isabella Casaretto (USA) 5 6 2 1 7 5 (12) 9 2 1 6 4 7 - 55 pts
3rd: Zoya Novikova / Diana Sabirova (RUS) 4 3 1 3 2 2 15 2 1 4 14 (24 RET) 10 - 61 pts
14th: Sophia Fyfe / Alice Haslett (NZL) 17 (24 UFD) 12 13 10 12 6 12 11 15 18 7 9 - 142 pts
Nacra 15 (24 boats)
1st: Teresa Romairone / Dante Cittadini (ARG) 3 2 3 1 1 1 5 3 3 1 3 (6) 3 - 29 pts
2nd: Andrea Spagnolli / Giulia Fava (ITA) 8 5 6 11 4 10 2 2 (14) 8 2 2 5 - 65 pts
3rd: Greta Stewart / Tom Fyfe (NZL) 10 (12) 4 9 2 2 1 5 4 11 4 7 8 - 67 pts
Boy's Laser Radial (58 boats)
1st: Josh Armit (NZL) (6) 3 1 1 5 4 1 2 2 - 19 pts
2nd: Juan Cardozo (ARG) 7 1 6 3 4 1 5 4 (22) - 31 pts
3rd: Zac Littlewood (AUS) 1 8 4 2 8 (11) 2 1 6 - 32 pts
Girl's Laser Radial (46 boats)
1st: Charlotte Rose (USA) (4) 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 - 10 pts
2nd: Emma Savelon (NED) 1 2 (6) 2 3 3 3 5 1 - 20 pts
3rd: Valeriya Lomatchenko (RUS) 6 4 2 3 2 5 (47 DSQ) 3 3 - 28 pts
20th: Samantha Stock (NZL) 25 23 18 24 17 (28) 15 20 16 - 158 pts
Boy's RS:X (27 boards)
1st: Geronimo Nores (USA) 1 1 1 (4) 1 2 1 3 1 1 3 1 1 - 17 pts
2nd: Nicolo Renna (ITA) 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 2 1 5 1 2 (9) - 28 pts
3rd: Fabien Pianazza (FRA) (6) 5 3 1 3 1 6 3 4 3 4 5 2 - 40 pts
12th: Max van der Zalm (NZL) 7 16 9 6 9 (19) 17 17 15 10 13 14 7 - 140 pts
Girl's RS:X (17 boards)
1st: Islay Watson (GBR) 3 2 1 2 (4) 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 3 - 23 pts
2nd: Veerle ten Have (NZL) 1 1 2 3 2 3 1 4 1 4 2 (6) 1 - 25 pts
3rd: Giorgia Speciale (ITA) 2 3 3 1 1 1 3 1 (18 UFD) 3 6 4 2 - 30 pts
Full results here
- The team are proudly supported by the NZL Sailing Foundation (previously known as the NZL Yachting Trust), Oceanbridge, Zhik and HPSNZ.
