iQFOiL U23 World Championship: Wind change shakes up the rankings - Nela Sadílkova takes the lead

The third day of the competition presented the athletes with a completely different playing field to the previous iQFOiL U23 World Championships. With wind forces of only 10-13 knots and a shift to offshore winds, the focus shifted from pure speed to tactical precision. While the first two days rewarded those who could push the hardest, yesterday's conditions demanded patience and accuracy. The key to success was recognising and achieving the first usable wind pressure after the start, which set the tone for the rest of the race.

Changing conditions call for new strategies

In contrast to the previous days, when both sides of the course offered opportunities, the options were much more limited: the land side was not a good option, while the left side of the course was more convincing. Thanks to the smaller swell, the focus was less on capitalising on the waves and more on reading the wind - a completely different strategic puzzle compared to the strong wind duels of the first two days.

In the men's event, Grae Morris retains the overall lead, but his day was much more varied than the flawless performances of the opening rounds. With placings of 12th, 1st, 3rd and 21st, the Olympic silver medallist showed both moments of brilliance and the price of a botched decision in today's more difficult conditions.

The big climber of the day was Leonardo Tomasini, bronze medallist at the 2024 U23 World Championships in Silvaplana. After finishing sixth overall the day before, the Italian made the most of his chances in the lighter offshore breeze and climbed to second place - the biggest comeback of the event so far. Directly behind him, Duncan Monaghan showed steady progress throughout the World Championship and improved from 6th place on the first day to 5th place on the second day to 3rd place.

Every mistake has major consequences

Federico Pilloni had a more difficult day, slipping from second to eighth place. A costly 36th place illustrated how difficult it was to recover from an unfortunate strategic decision, even with sufficient speed. Nacho Baltasar Summers, third yesterday, also lost ground and dropped back to fifth, but remains within striking distance of the podium as the battles in the Gold fleet now begin in earnest.

Leonardo Tomasini was satisfied with his performance: "I had really good races today. I won the last one and I also achieved a second, a third and a seventh place. It was a really tricky day with the wind shifting, but I managed to make the right decisions, maybe with a bit of luck. I'm looking forward to the next races," commented the Italian. Max Körner slipped down to 32nd place, while Jakob Ditzen made up three places and is now 42nd. The day was not ideal for Lenny Friemel either, who fell to 52nd place, while Bastian Weber is 94th.

Nela Sadílkova surprises in the women's fleet

The women's rankings were also shaken up. Nela Sadílkova delivered the performance of the day, jumping from fifth to first overall. A win in the opening race, followed by two solid third places, rewarded the Czech sailor's consistency and boldness.

Behind her, Mina Mobekk maintained her characteristic consistency and held on to second place, keeping the pressure on the leader. Aimee Bright also made her presence felt, climbing to third place on the podium thanks to a win and a series of strong results. It was a more difficult day for yesterday's front runners. Emma Viktoria Millend slipped from first place to fourth, while Maya Gysler dropped from third to fifth - a lot can still happen in the leading group over the next few days. Sophia Meyer also rode strongly and consistently and remains in sixth place overall. The Berlin native was able to take a DNC in the final race as a stripper. Emma Schleicher also showed impressive consistency and is in 35th place.

Nella Sadílkova shared her joy about the lead with an amusing anecdote: "I am currently leading and I have a funny story from today. I was carrying my sail to the water before the races and I saw this unknown man, without even knowing him, he said to me 'let's win this' and I replied 'okay, I'll try' and now I'm leading.... I'm really happy about it. And today was so much fun, the race was great and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," said the Czech.