The qualifying phase of the Youth Foiling Gold- ACT 2, hosted in the French waters of La Grande Motte, ended today on a day marked by stormy weather that offered strong winds for the first four of the eight races contested, and then dropped for the remaining four.
The Youth Foiling Gold Cup is proceeding at full speed, in four days all twenty-four scheduled regattas were sailed and the conditions never failed to meet the expectations of the 12 participating teams, all under-25 as per YFGC regulations.
Starting tomorrow they will be divided into two fleets, based on tonight’s rankings. Leading the Gold Fleet we find the home team Groupe Atlantic, after a close battle with teams LunaRossa-Piranha (ITA) and Antigua Rum Runners, at the moment, in second and third position respectively.
“It was a fun day, we went out thinking there would be light wind, but instead the breeze picked up to almost twenty knots,” commented Filippo Amonti, mainsail trimmer for Rum Runners at the end of today’s competition. “We sailed well, almost always on foils. Our goal was to get to the finals, and we achieved it; from tomorrow we start from scratch”.
In fourth position the French team Orient Express Team France, skippered by local Enzo Balanger, followed by the Dutch of Team JAJO-DutchSail, who dominated the YFGC season last year. Closing out the Gold Fleet is the Italian Luna Rossa-Swordfish team just one point from the first Gold exclusions, the German Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team.
“Today we finished the qualifying round, we are really happy because we reached the first goal of this regatta,” says Alessandra Dubbini, flight-controller of Luna Rossa-Swordfish. “Tomorrow we start again with the finals, and we can’t wait.”
The final stages of Act 2 of the Youth Foiling Gold Cup 2023 in La Grande-Motte are on tomorrow and on Sunday, and if the six teams in Gold Fleet will give their best to win the ticket to the YFGC Grand Finale in Barcelona in November, destined for the best two crews in each event, in the Silver one they will compete for the best place in the rankings and it will represent a great opportunity to train and get in the best possible way to the next event, in Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy, in August, where they will have a chance to get their hands on the other two tickets up for grabs.
TECHNICAL PARTNERS:
Avant Garde, Gottifredi Maffioli, Harken, North Sails, Vakaros, QI Composites, Vela Mania, Fraglia Vela Malcesine, Acquaviva WT, Cantine di Verona
ABOUT 69F
The 69F project is the result of the commitment and skills of athletes, engineers and communication entrepreneurs who believe in the future of sailing hydrofoil and its affirmation in the world of professional regattas as well as in the world of lifestyle and amateur sport.
The 69F team developed and built an innovative high-performance boat, they designed captivating and sustainable competition formats and a sailing academy to train future young flying sailors and to entertain everyone, from pros to amateurs, with the aim of providing the ultimate foiling experience.
