Poland complete the double at 2016 RS:X Worlds

Piotr Myszka and Malgorzata Bialecki capped a great regatta for Poland as they took the men’s and women’s 2016 RS:X World Championships titles in Eilat, Israel.

Despite a ninth place for Myszka and a sixth for Bialecki in the Medal Races, both had enough of a cushion, helped by results going their way, to keep hold of the lead they had going in to the final day of racing.

Men’s RS:X

With gold sewn up, Myszka left it to Israeli sailor Shahar Zubari to give the home crowd something to cheer as he won the Medal Race, but it was behind him where the focus for medals firmly was.

Myszka started the race on top, but his nearest rival, Great Britain’s Nick Dempsey, could not mount an attack on the title when he slipped behind early on. Dempsey never recovered and was pounced upon by the waiting Dutch sailors Dorian Van Rijsselberge and Kiran Badloe.

With second in the Medal Race, Van Rijsselberge moved in to the silver medal position followed by compatriot Badloe who took bronze thanks to his fifth place finish and Dempsey’s disappointing seventh.

Further back was Myszka in ninth, but with the points advantage he already had over his rivals, he crossed with the gold already around his neck.

Mattia Camboni (ITA) missed out on the Medal Race, finishing 17th overall, which was enough to take home the U21 crown.

Women’s RS:X

Knowing anything but a disaster would give her the gold medal, Bialecki could take her foot of the gas a little and enjoy the final race of the Championships and watch the fight behind her for the silver and bronze medals unfold.

Despite former World Champion Charline Picon (FRA) taking the bullet in the Medal Race, it was not enough to drag her up in to medal contention with too many finishes outside the top 10 throughout the week.

On the other end of the scale, Great Britain’s Bryony Shaw started her Championships slowly, but steadily progressed through the week and finished with a third place to move her up to second overall. Shaw’s consistency was the key as she was the only competitor to card results all inside the top 10.

Shaw’s results and move up the leader board was at the cost of Lillan De Geus (NED), who placed fourth in the Medal Race and moved down to bronze position, and Zofia Noceti-Klepacka (POL) who dropped out of the medals with a fifth in the Medal Race.

Coming home in sixth, Bialecki took her gold medal with a seven point gap back to silver medallist Shaw.

Youth World Champion, Russia’s Stefania Elfutina faired well in the senior competition and took second in the Medal Race to finish fifth overall. Elfutina was some way ahead of her rivals in the U21 section to take the win.