Rising Winds and Rising Stars: Highlights from the Techno 293 Championships
The last two days have been eventful at the Techno 293 World Championships in Balatonföldvár, on Wednesday and Thursday there was a breeze on Lake Balaton, which was great luck for the organizers and the young windsurfers because such a long period of time is not typical for this time of year on this lake.
The U15 girls' category has been dominated for days by a Spanish trio, with Olivia Sánchez Moral confidently leading the field, having won six of the last seven races and finished second once, making her the absolute favourite going into the final races of competition.
"I'm never worried because I like all kinds of winds, maybe the best is medium, but that's not the end of it," said the Spanish leader, "The first day the wind was light, then it picked up and then it eased a bit again. Windsurfing on lakes is a bit different because the wind shifts a bit more, which makes it harder to move forward, but I like to compete on lake and sea as well. This championships are great, the water is great, overall I'm very happy to be here. A year ago I was second at the World Championships in France and then this year I won the European Championships and I would like to win the gold medal again."
Thursday saw one more race than usual on the lake because one of the U17 boys' race was cancelled on Wednesday and made up the next day, so all competitors have completed the 12 races so far, with only three to go. On Thursday, the older age group took to the water earlier and were able to race in stronger winds than the younger age group who started later.
Kristóf Jancsó was still in fourth place among the U17 boys' after the third day, but after his mistake on Wednesday he feels that the increased point difference has put him off the podium, but he was able to recover and still enjoy the race on day four.
"The first two days were much less windy than the second two, the first one suited me better because I prefer the light wind and I was very close to the podium, three points behind the third one," said Kristóf Jancsó, "Because my weight is light, strong is not necessarily my wind, but I enjoyed the race even though my results were not that good. I hope there will be less wind on Friday, because then it will be my day! Even if I don't make it to the podium, I want to show that I can be in the leading group and I want to get myself into the top five at the end, I think that's achievable. The top three are the Greek guys, they are very strong in this category right now, they are good in light winds and they are the best in strong winds."
The best performance of the Hungarian team so far in the past four days is Kristóf Gerlits, who is ranked sixth in the Techno Plus category, but third in the U19 category, where he is currently in medal position. In the U13s, Antal Körtvélyesi is sailing superbly, fourth behind the Spanish trio leading the age group, but by far the best of those using a smaller 5.0 sail instead of the 5.8 typical for the category.
DAY 4, RESULTS (AFTER 12 RACES):
TECHNO PLUS, MEN:
1. Minas Koutelas (Greece) 35
2. Yugo Saito (Japan) 35
3. Aris Panagopoulos (Greece) 43
TECHNO PLUS, WOMEN
1. Nefeli Anagnostou (Greek) 28
2. Teres Medde (Italy) 30
3. Kristyna Chalupnikova (Czech Republic) 47
U17, BOYS:
1. Panagiotis Ioannou (Greece) 13
2. Agapitos Michalis Stamatoulakis (Greece) 28
3. Pavlos Kallitsis Alagkiozian (Greece) 36
U17, GIRLS:
1. Danai Anagnostou (Greece) 13
2. Defne Egrilmez (Turkey) 32
3. Martina Bárbara Tor (Spain) 33
U15, BOYS:
1. Evangelos Kyriazakos (Greece) 37
2. Georgios Kanellopoulos (Greece) 51
3. Spiros Monastiriotis (Greece) 63
U15, GIRLS:
1. Olivia Sánchez Moral (Spain) 14
2. Lindia Miel Pousa Dios (Spain) 25
3. Mia Berazategui (Spain) 41
U13:
1. Joshua Castro Jurek (Spain) 25
2. Joan Servera (Spain) 40
3. Biel Martorell Blasco (Spain) 40