Photos / Gwidon Libera / iQFOiL International Class
A 15-year-old wins twice and storms into the top ten on Day 2 of the iQFOiL U23 World Championships, while Federico Alan Pilloni and Aimee Bright keep their leads
At 15, Medea Falcioni is one of the youngest sailors in a championship built for athletes under 23. On Tuesday the Italian made that gap look irrelevant. After a difficult opening day at the iQFOiL U23 World Championships in Puck, Poland, Falcioni won two of the four Slalom races, never finished outside the top three and climbed into the top ten of the Women’s fleet.
A lighter breeze changed the shape of the racing on Day 2. The fleet switched from Course Racing to Slalom and completed four races on the Bay of Puck.
At the front of the Women’s fleet nothing moved. Aimee Bright of New Zealand still leads the championship, ahead of the Norwegians Maya Gysler in second and Tuva Oppedal in third, as the three consolidated their positions after two days of racing.
In the Men’s fleet, Federico Alan Pilloni of Italy stays firmly in control. He followed his strong opening day by winning all four of his heats and remains top of the leaderboard. The closest challenge comes from the home sailor Stanislaw Trepczynski, who scored three race wins on his own waters to climb to second overall after eight races. Leonardo Tomasini holds third, the same place he occupied after the opening day, which gives Italy two sailors in the provisional top three.
With two days of qualification completed, the Men’s fleet now splits into Gold and Silver fleets, and the leading sailors will race head to head from Wednesday. Racing continues on the Bay of Puck as the battle for the U23 world titles moves into its next phase.
The iQFOiL U23 World Championships run in Puck until 3 October, with 148 athletes from 34 nations. Full results are available on the event’s official results page.
