Danish sailor Magnus Overbeck emerged victorious, clinching the 2024 International WASZP Games title by two points ahead of Norway’s Markus Berthet.
In a reversal of last year’s WASZP European Championships, where Berthet claimed the win, the 2024 title race once again went down to the wire.
With strong winds of up to 25 knots sweeping the final day, only two races could be completed, setting the stage for a nail-biting finish.
The competition was simply sensational, with just four points separating 3rd and 6th place, and the fight for the final podium spot coming down to a single point.
Overbeck, reflecting on the event, said, “I couldn’t sleep last night, running through every scenario in my head. I managed to get some points on him in the first race of the day, but then he (Berthet) goes out and wins the second one. Once the racing was called off, I needed confirmation; I simply couldn’t believe it.”
Italy’s Federico Bergamasco delivered a stunning performance to secure 3rd overall, while Spain’s Pablo Astiazaran finished 4th.
Despite a strong finish, Great Britain’s Sam Whaley narrowly missed the podium, landing in 5th place.
In the women’s division, Hedvig Doksrod found the going a bit tougher in the breezier conditions after dominating the fleet in the lighter winds. Both Marie Butler Wang and Nora Doksrod were able to claim valuable points, but it wasn’t enough to take the win off Hedvig.
The 6.9m fleet racing in their own division and starting by themselves for the first time ever had a competitive fleet of 25 racing, showing the up-and-coming strength of this class.
A Francesco Carrieri masterclass saw the young Italian champ win all but three of the races.
Rounding out the podium were the Gieger siblings, Tommaso and Rebecca from Italy, seeing off a strong challenge from GBR sailor Ben Anderson.
In the women’s, Rebecca Gieger took the win from countrywoman Olvia Castaldi and GBR sailor Alice Senior.
In other divisions, Victor Loof showed he would be a force in years to come, claiming the Junior (U18) title from Swiss sailor Micha De Weck and Canadian Andrew Chisholm.
The Youth (U21) title was one of the hottest contended, with Bergamasco taking the win by one point from Astiazaran, with Antonio Gasperini from Spain rounding out the podium.
The super-masters (over 50), was again won by Super-master extraordinaire Mikel Vazquez of Spain. followed in by Stefan Eriksson from Sweden and Daniel Goodman of New Zealand.
Full WASZP Games Resuts: https://www.sandefjordseilforening.no/waszp-games/results
Next up for the British WASZP fleet are the 2024 National Championships & UK EuroCup at Weymouth, starting Thursday 22 August with 80+ competitors entered.
This is a precurser of the 2025 International WASZP Games which will be held at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy from 10 to 20 July next year, with expectations of breaking participation records with a potential fleet of 300 boats.
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