1, 2 & 3! Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes are again 470 Youth World Champions

Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes are again 470 Youth World champions © Yacht Club de Cannes

Before the Medal Race held this Saturday in Kocaeli, Turkey on the shores of the Black Sea, Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes, the young members of the Yacht Club de Cannes - soon to be only 24 years old - "were" only third behind the impressive Lomane Valade-Julien Bunel (SNO Nantes and Base Nautique Mare et Vela), and Manon Pennaneac'h-Pierre Williot (SNO Nantes and CV St Aubin Elbeuf), European vice-champions and third at the Junior World Championships last year. This means that the France team coached by Philippe Boudgourd, elected best coach at the FFVoile Champions Night in 2023, largely dominated this world championship, constantly sharing the first three places, far ahead of their competitors. The gap between the winners and the fifth-placed Poles is 54 points!

For Cannes' Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes, it was necessary to finish five places ahead of Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel to win this last race reserved for the top ten, and whose points count double. Optimist World Champion at the age of 14, and now runner-up in the 470 World Championship at only 17 years old after only two seasons at the helm of the Cornu design, the nugget Lomane Valade and her brilliant teammate Julien Bunel, could do nothing against the recent fourth place finishes at the Senior European Championships in Cannes last May Training partners of the Olympic selections Camille Lecointre and Jérémie Mion for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes managed to get rid of a match racing worthy of the America's Cup at the start, before flying to victory in a wind of 5 to 6 knots.

Lucie de Gennes, analyses this performance with modesty and lucidity: "The whole week has been difficult and stressful with two French crews not giving up. It's a very shifty body of water with winds turning in all directions from north to south and flat seas. As a result, everyone goes at the same speed, whereas it's when there are waves that you make the difference. The days were long with a lot of waiting. With Matisse, we really wanted this title and we achieved the scheme we had put in place during this Medal Race. Now, we're going to take a few days off before going to support Camille and Jérémie at the Olympics in Marseille. "

By winning a third consecutive world title in the U24 junior (under 24 years old) in addition to the one in the U21 in 2021, the Cannes team has marked their territory. Rare are the crews dominating their series in this way, and winning world titles one after the other. Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes are following in the footsteps of New Zealander Peter Burling in the 49er, or Australian Mathew Belcher in the 470, multiple world champions and gold medallists at the Olympic Games. The next generation is here for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics!