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Laser Radial - Women

Fresh from her experience at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship is Busan, Korea where she was part of the ISAF Athlete Participation Programme, Tania ZIMMERMAN (PER) has claimed one of her first titles in the Laser Radial, winning the Gold with two points to spare. With an ISAF World Ranking of 85, Tania is currently the top placed Peruvian sailor, sitting just four places ahead of the second placed Maria PIA BENAVIDEZ.

A tenth in race one was not an indicator of the performance to come from Tania in the twelve boat fleets, as she went onto place top three positions in all but one of the remaining races. A relatively close battle with team mate Maria PIA BENAVIDEZ saw Maria lead Tania through the series, as Tania suffered from her opening points, but from race four onwards Tania claimed her position. Behind these two who held a clear points margin on the rest of the fleet, the bronze medal went to Andrea SABA (VEN).

Laser - Men

Over the in the men's Laser event, it was Luis Alberto OLCESE (PER) who challenged the rest of the fleet, with a scoreline across the seven races of top five results. With an ISAF World Ranking of 303, the odds were looked long for OLCESE to take the title, especially with the likes of Olympic sailor Augusto NICOLINI (PER) snapping at his stern. Whilst NICOLINI took more bullets, he couldn't maintain his form and with a couple of lower results slipped into claim third a mere two points behind OLCESE. Another well known sailor from the region Johny BILBAO (VEN) placed second overall.

Sunfish - Men

Leading the fleet to take the gold, Marx CHIRINOS (VEN) took the lead after his second bullet in race 4, and from thereon was on track for the gold, the one gold medal claimed by Venezuela. CHIRINOS sailed a tidy but close series to finish two points ahead of Solmar BERMUDEZ (COL), with Columbia also taking the bronze. Throughout the series the top four finishers were in podium contention, with just the positions jostling.

With the Zimmerman family again represented, and a couple of bullets to his credit, the potential of young Diego ZIMMERMAN (PER) was evident. He led the fleet for the first three races, before being caught by CHIRINOS, and eventually fell to an OCS and two eighth places to scupper his hopes of a medal.

Optimist - Youth

Showcasing some of the rising stars of the region, the Optimist fleet was a mix of young stars and newcomers to the international scene.

Gold to Peru and Alexander ZIMMERMAN, not surprising bearing in mind he finished 37 at the recent Optimist World Championships in Switzerland. An excellent scoreline and three bullets secured the medal, but it was not all plain sailing, especially after an 11 in race 4, saw him fall down the leaderboard. Chasing hard were Alex COLLIN (ECU) who took the silver, and another member of the same clan Daniela ZIMMERMAN who came in third.