Franco-American Dominance in Gdynia: Time for the Youth World Championship Semifinals

Based on the results from the round-robin series, in which each team races against every other team, the top eight crews were selected. The next stage followed a knockout format – best of five. The most successful skipper in the eliminations was France’s Marin Micoulot, who won an impressive 12 out of 15 races. Justin Callahan from the USA and Ange Delerce, another French representative, each recorded 11 victories.

After thrilling and often tightly contested quarterfinals, four skippers advanced to the semifinals: Marin Micoulot (France), Morgan Pinckney (USA), Justin Callahan (USA), and Ange Delerce (France). This means Sunday’s semifinals will feature two Franco-American duels:

• In the first semifinal, Marin Micoulot will face Morgan Pinckney.
• In the second: Justin Callahan will go against Ange Delerce.

One of the most exciting quarterfinals was the showdown between the British team (skippered by Benjamin Tylecote) and the Americans led by Morgan Pinckney. The match went down to the fifth and final race. The British led 2-0 but couldn’t bring it home– Pinckney and his crew staged a comeback, winning three consecutive races to book their place in the semifinals.

We had a really close quarterfinal against the American team led by Morgan Pinckney, which ended 3–2 in their favour. We won the first two races in slightly stronger breeze, which brought in more swell and chop. But then the wind dropped, and we were racing in really light, choppy conditions. That was when we kind of lost our rhythm – commented Benjamin Tylecote – After the first loss we tried to stay mentally focused, but it was tough. We felt like we won the starts, but maintaining flow upwind through the waves was challenging, and they ended up winning three in a row – sums up the skipper.

His crew member, Issy Leetch, added – Today we had to play a bit of catch-up, which was actually a good test. Everyone on the team was really focused and eager to win. In one of the quarterfinal races, we were behind until the second downwind, but managed to take the lead on the final leg, which was amazing. – says Issy.

Match Racing quarter finals are all about racing the same team multiple times. – In the round robin, it’s nice racing a new team each time—it gives you a mental reset. If you lose a race, you can just say, “That’s okay, new opponent, fresh start.” But in the quarterfinals, when you’re facing the same team in up to five races, it gets intense—especially when the teams are evenly matched. You know they’re good, you might be equal in speed, and it’s tough to keep going at them again and again. – she sums up.

Teams from Great Britain and Poland are among those now placed in the 5th–8th spots. The British crew will face the Polish team tomorrow, as the races for those placements were postponed due to the light and unpredictable wind conditions.

Sunday is set to be the day of final decisions – if weather permits. The forecast remains uncertain, but organisers plan to hold both the semifinals and the grand final, along with the remaining placement races.

More thrills await on the water – and all signs point to the battle for the world title being decided in intense Franco-American matchups.

Text and images courtesy of the Polish Yachting Association.