Wind from various directions at the Techno293 & Techno293Plus Worlds
The wind didn’t get stronger on the second day of the Suzuki Techno293 World Championship, but rather more unpredictable, making the racing much more challenging for the windsurfers, with the wind shifting frequently and the order of the field changing easily. However, there were some who were not bothered by the conditions.
“The view is amazing, the weather is good, it’s actually my favourite type of wind and really fun to race here,” said Japan’s Daiki Mishiba, who is in the 1st place in the men’s T293 Plus cathegory after six races. I often practice on Lake Hyoko at home in Japan, which is very similar to Lake Balaton, the surface is calm and the waves are small. My goal is clear, I want to be a world champion.”
In the same category the local Kristóf Gerlits has performed well:
“The first day the wind was lighter but more stable, on Tuesday it was all over the place, so it was harder to race. On Monday I was angry about the early start, but I had to stay focused and go into the next race as if it hadn’t happened. On the second day I knew I can only move higher in the ranking, so I set myself the goal to be as fast as possible in every race,” said Gerlits, U19, who competes in Techno Plus. I think it’s a big advantage for the Hungarians to be surfing at home on the Lake Balaton, I’ve seen some surprised faces among the opponents!”
One of the best performer of the Hungarian girls on Tuesday was Bori Bósza, who finished the day in eighth and ninth place, maintaining her 13th place overall. She thinks the world championship didn’t start well for her, she thought she would do better in light winds and was a little disappointed after the first day as she was aiming for a podium finish before the start of the Techno293 World Championships.
“I felt like I wasn’t there mentally, so my goal was to finally arrive at the worlds mentally and realize that even though it’s my home course and I grew up here, practiced all days on these waters, it’s still a world championship,” said Bori Bósza. I started the second day with a fersh start, but during the race the wind shifted a hundred degrees suddenly and more than 20 competitors who had been behind me came in front of me. In the second race the wind changed to the east, which I like the most and know very well, because most of the time it blows this type of wind here. We are after only two days, anything is possible. It would be nice to be on the podium but more realistic goal for me is to finish in the top five which I would be very happy with.”
In the U17 boys’ category, the top of the field remained unchanged according to the first day, with Kristóf Jancsó still in fourth place behind the Greek trio. Peru’s five-man team travelled from over 10,000 kilometres to the shores of Lake Balaton to test their skills against the best young windsurfers of their age group. One of their best performers at the World Championships is Bruno Mariano Mendoza Orihuela, who is 29th in the U17 boys’ field.
“Lake Balaton is different from the sea, the wind is similar but the water is not salty so the board reacts differently,” said the Peruvian. I really enjoy competing here, in Peru there are about ten people I can practice and compete with, but here are so many people and everyone wants so hard to compete, I just love it! I want to finish in the top half of the U17 category and I’m here to learn from the opponents. Hungary is so different from Latin America, the people are respectful, I feel like I’m in another world. It’s a wonderful place and I like the way the World Championships are organised.”
The final races of the second day of racing were postponed until after the afternoon hamburger party due to weather conditions and light wind, but in the end of the day the U13 and U15 age groups completed all their three daily races as well, so the complete field can start with the seventh race on Wednesday.
DAY 2, RESULTS:
TECHNO PLUS MEN:
Daiki Mishiba (Japan)
Aris Panagopoulos (Greece)
Daigo Komatsu (Japan)
TECHNO PLUS, WOMEN:
Teres Medde (Italy)
Nefeli Anagnostou (Greece)
Misaki Iwaya (Japan)
U17, BOYS:
Panagiotis Ioannou (Greece)
Agapitos Michalis Stamatoulakis (Greece)
Pavlos Kallitsis Alagkiozian (Greece)
U17, GIRLS:
Danai Anagnostou (Greece)
Charline Quercy (France)
Martina Bárbara Tor (Spain)
U15, BOYS*:
Evangelos Kyriazakos (Greece)
Alessandro La Sala (Italy)
Yoav Marom (Israel)
U15, GIRLS*:
Lindia Miel Pousa Dios (Spain)
Olivia Sánchez Moral (Spain)
Yaara Kately (Israel)
U13*:
Antal Körtvélyesi (Hungary) 24
Biel Martorell Blasco (Spain) 36
3rd Joshua Castro Jurek (Spain) 35
* after 5 races