Despair and Dominance Define Chaotic Day

Scrappy racing in mixed up breeze kicked off the next stage of the championship as the leaders gave a masterclass in consistency while others dropped kites and places heading towards the medal series.

© IKA media/Robert Hajduk: Day 4 was a minefield of light wind causing frustrating mark rounding pile-ups

Almost Unbeatable
With one more day of racing left to determine who moves into Monday’s top eight medal series, it is clear that Riccardo Pianosi is on another level, extending his lead on the gold fleet to seven points. Barely slipping from his string of firsts, the Italian is dominating the European Championship as places change behind him.


© IKA media/Robert Hajduk: Adding another win in the scoreline, Riccardo Pianosi [ITA] looks unstoppable in the gold fleet

“Seriously I don’t know why he’s so in charge, otherwise I’d be copying him,” said Pianosi’s training partner and teammate Lorenzo Boschetti who had a disappointing day dropping to ninth, four points out of the medal series qualifying position. “His motivation is real high. He’s the fastest in the fleet right now. Maybe he found a new way to push the Chubanga foils or the new kites. Or maybe the new foil just fits him better.”

Despite Pianosi’s clear advantage, Cameron Meremenides of Greece has serious momentum going into the last day of the gold fleet, climbing to second overall. He has passed Max Maeder after the Singaporean was caught in a light wind jumble of kites, sailing a throwout of 11th in race two of the day.


© IKA media/Robert Hajduk: Always climbing, Cameron Maramenides [GRE] will be wearing the blue bib of second place on day 5

Meremenides’ Element kites tuning partner Beniot Gomez of France was one of the only ones to win a reaching battle with Pianosi, pipping the Italian at the finish to win the day’s final race as speeds breached 30 knots.

The silver fleet has no less of a battle with Tomas Pires De Lima of Portugal barely holding off a hard charging Karl Maeder of Switzerland by one point.

Britannia, and France, Rule the Waves
Five hours, five races. That was the exhausting day in the women’s fleet as the riders saw the same unavoidable potholes of light winds as the men. But two riders, Lily Young of Great Britain and France’s Lauriane Nolot, stood clear of the fray, scoring remarkably consistent finishes.

Nolot owned the fleet for a second day in a row with a 3,1,2,1,1 scoreline brining her to within three points of the Brit.


© IKA media/Robert Hajduk: Lily Young [GBR], with coach Lance Olner, is carrying the torch of a massively successful

British squad
Young, however, like Pianosi, has filed an impressive performance over a wild range of conditions. In charge of the Europeans since day one, she is carrying the bright torch lit by her 2024 tuning partner, Olympic gold medalist Ellie Aldridge. With Aldridge taking time off, she is forging her own path and her immediate goal is to win the European title.

“The previous 10 months were all to do with Ellie, and Lily was keen to support her,” said Young’s coach Lance Olner. “Ultimately she didn’t get to call the shots. Now it’s all about what she wants to focus on.”

Lysa Caval of France was climbing through the fleet having her best races of the regatta when she hit debris in each of the last three races, leaving her in seventh, but still in play for the medal series.


© IKA media/Robert Hajduk: Lysa Caval has a great attitude even after a frustrating three races of catching debris on her foil

“The level of the girls is really high right now and we have to focus on the little details,” said a visibly drained Caval. “When something bad happens to me I try to calm down. But at a certain point, you can’t be too calm because at this speed you have to be energetic.”

One thing is clear at the close of Saturday: Pianosi and Young are in a league of their own. There’s still a whole day of serious qualifying racing ahead for the women and men here in Urla and all eyes will be on the riders straddling eighth place hoping to make it into Sunday’s medal series.

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