RS21 World Championship 2024 at L'Escala Day 1
by Bex Foot 27 Sep 02:27 NZST
21-28 September 2024
RS21 World Championship 2024 Day 1 © Code Zero Digital
The first races of the RS21 World Championship 2024 took to the Bay of Roses on Wednesday 25th September. The fleet sailed the three races during the opening day in fantastic conditions L'Escala is known for.
The south wind, with an intensity of 12 to 18 knots, and a 160º component that has been shifting to the right up to 185º, allowed for spectacular Corinthian racing in the one-design fleet.
At the end of Day 1, Italy dominates the head of the fleet with Dario Levi's ITA 288 Fremito de Arja as overall leader and only two points ahead of second place, Edoardo Lupi's ITA 244 Torpyone, who has 18 points. Third place goes to defending champions, ITA 296 Caipirinha helmed by Martin Reintjes.
In the Corinthian category, Riccardo Benvenuto's ITA 238 is first with 35 points. They are followed by Krzysztof Marianski's Polish team POL 278 Euro Shipping, skippered by Igor Tarasiuk. They are tied in second on 44 points with Raimondas Šiugždinis' Lithuanian LTU 308 Storm.
Italy holds the lead among the Under 23's category with two boats owned by Andrea Nocella. They are ITA 285 Nox Oceani 285, skippered by Andrea de Matteis, and ITA 231 Nox Oceani 231 with Francesco Columbano as skipper. Third place goes to Camilla Michellini's ITA 234 with Alessandro Bossi at the helm.
On its social side, the RS21 World Championship started the day with the weather forecast for the regatta given by Enric Agud, the Catalan Sailing Federation's weather forecaster and presenter of El Temps on the Catalan television. A pasta party greeted the sailors in the evening, with plenty of socializing happening in Regatta Village at Club Nàutic L'Escala atop the iconic RS Sailing magenta carpet.
You can view the results so far on Hubsail. Keep up with all the action on the RS21 Facebook and Instagram pages.