In a light 4-8 knots shifty breeze, the 470 Women’s top ten lined up first for the final Medal Race at 13:30.

470 Women Marcelien DE KONING and Lobke BERKHOUT from the Netherlands and Japanese Women Ai KONDO and  Naoko KAMARA,  and Yuka YOSHISAKO and Noriko OKUMA were to decide on Gold, while chances for Silver and Bronze remained open to others.

The Dutch 470 Women had a fair start and came to the upper mark in sixth position, a very dangerous situation in such a short race. They manage to win two positions on their first mark rounding position to cross the finish line as fourth, good enough to finally win the Worlds Title for the second time.

“The boats were packed up on the small course which caused that they could not follow their strategy and so they had to switch to other plans.  On the last downwind run they knew they should have gybed to catch better wind, but given the situation they had no better option than follow Ai KONDO and Naoko KAMATA . It was a thrilling race and they performed some perfect sailing.” said Jacco KOOPS, coach of the Dutch Women.

Ai KONDO and Naoko KAMATA who took over the Japanese threat from YOSHISAKO and Noriko OKUMA during the Championship, finish the Medal Race as third, which brings them Silver as a result of an overall three points difference on the Dutch Ladies who remain World Champion.

Therese TORGERSSON and Vendela ZACHRISSON, Athens 2004 Medallists and World Champions of 2004, needed a leading position in this Medal Race to take a medal to Sweden. They have a very strong race and end second. With this effort they conclude the Championship with a Bronze Medal with only one point difference on Fernanda OLIVEIRA and Isabel SWAN from Brazil, and two points on Yuka YOSHISAKO and Noriko OKUMA who resp. take a fourth an fifth overall position on the final Championship results.

WILMOT / PAGE lose Gold after taking a penalty

The wind had freshened a little, enough to start the 470 Men’s Medal Race with the yellow flag hoisted.

Like in the 470 Women’s Medal race, the current top ten of World’s best Two Person dinghy sailors were in a very close battle.
 
Probably the most influencing decision the Race Committee made in this   Championship was to take down the yellow flag at the upper mark during racing before the last downwind run because the wind dropped below yellow flag rule limits.

Australia’s Nathan WILMOT and Malcolm PAGE, still defending the Worlds Title at that time, rounded the upper mark in second position behind Frenchmen Nicolas CHARBONNIER and Olivier BAUSSET. Although the Australians were in a very convenient position with the 470 Men from Great Brittain in sixth position, they started to pump! The jury raised their flag for the Australians who had to take their penalty immediately, losing their Gold Medal at the last few yards to Nic ASHER and Elliot WILLIS from Great Brittain.

Gideon KLIGER and Udi GAL from Israel cross the finish line in fifth place that brings them the Bronze Medal in a very narrow margin. If they would have become sixth, the bronze medal would have been granted to Gabrio ZANDONA and Andrea TRANI from Italy.
 

Full results are available at the event web site: http://470.rz.gov.cn/sfsjg/

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Source: 470 Internationale