ISAF : Blanca MANCHÓN (ESP)

Blanca MANCHÓN (ESP)

Blanca MANCHÓN (ESP) Blanca MANCHÓN had already begun to make a name for herself on the windsurfing circuit when she became the youngest sailor at the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition and 2005 has been another phenomenal year. With wins at four of the five ISAF graded events she has contested in the nomination period, her achievements speak for themselves. The 2005 ISAF Grade W Mistral World Championship took place in Italy in May and in an event beset by difficult conditions, Blanca blitzed the competition to take the gold medal with a 13 point margin.

The Mistral European Youth Championship ran concurrently with the Worlds and Blanca won this title 120 points clear from the next youth sailor. It was therefore little surprise later in the year at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Busan, Korea that Blanca should top the podium again. This time she did so with a day to spare, after winning six of the eleven races. Her results have seen her steadily climb the ISAF World Sailing Rankings to end the nomination period at number three. This young windsurfer is certainly one to watch for the future.

ISAF World Sailing Ranking at the end of the nomination period (3 August 2005) - 3

3rd - HRH Princess Sofia Trophy, March 2005 – ISAF Grade 2
1st - Mistral World Championship, May 2005 – Grade W
1st - World Festival on the Beach, May 2005 – ISAF Grade 3
1st – Mistral European Youth Championship, May 2005
1st – Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, July 2005 – ISAF Grade 2

Name:	Blanca MANCHON (ESP)
Place of Birth:	Spain
Date of Birth:	31842
Profession:	Student
ISAF Sailor ID:	ESPMB2
What inspired you to take up sailing?	All my family have been my inspiration as all of them have sailed since a very young age, and my mother participated in a Spanish windsurfing championship when she was five months pregnant with me!
What was the first boat you sailed?	It was a beachcomber for beginner sailors at age of 7
How did you buy your first boat and what was it?	My first windsurf board had been my brother's with a sail that dad made specifically for me. It was a Bic Calypso.
Name your first sailing club:	Club Nautico Sevilla
What was the first event you competed in?	An Andalusian Championship in the Guadalquivir river in Sevilla in 1992
What was the first event you won?	A Sailing league in the Santa Maria Port, Cadizin 1994
What are the main achievements/personal highlights of your sailing career?	Without any doubt, I would choose the Junior, Youth and overall World Championships
What are the main achievements/personal highlights of your sailing career?	European runner-up and overall European Champonship 2005
What are the main achievements/personal highlights of your sailing career?	8th position at the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition
What are you future sailing goals?	2008 Olympic Games in Beijing
What does sailing mean to you?	Sailing is for me the way of expressing how I feel each moment, which is reflected in the regattas in my may of thinking and reacting at each time and made me win or lose the regattas.
Who has had the greatest impact on your sailing career and why?	The aspect that has had the greatest impact in this sport is seeing how any bad decision, any mistake can have important consequences and have you judged afterwards. Without being able to avoid it, in the sailing environment sometimes you depend only on your luck. I have also been very close to some poeple who have lost their dreams due to bad luck on the sea, without being able to avoid it - that is what has the greatest impact on me.
Who is your sailing hero?	I think that every person who can sacrifice and wants to give everything is a hero. There are only a few people who can achieve it at the end, those who do it without cheating are my heroes.
What other sports do you enjoy?	I love gymnastics, surfing, wakeboarding...
What does being nominated for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2005 mean to you?	It is a great honour to be nominated and I am very grateful to ISAF for having recognized my sport achievements.
If you were voted as the winner, what would this mean to you?	It would one of the greatest things in my life for me and for all my family who have lived so closely through my sports career and have always supported me at all times, in the good and bad moments. They are the only ones that have always believed in me, so this Award would be for each of them.
If you were voted as the winner, what would this mean to you?	Besides it is fantastic for any sports person lies having his/her achievements and daily effort recognized, even more when you are 18 and have lived very strong experiences in competitions. The experience of being awarded would without any doubt be one of them.

E-mail this page

Print this page