3rd World University Sailing Championship
Izmir, Turkey - July 4th to 8th, 2004
Day 1
Sunday 4th July saw the first competitions of the 2nd World University Sailing Championship, held in Izmir, Turkey. As the delegations arrived a few days earlier, they had already tasted the warm Turkish hospitality. Only seven countries made the trip (a total of 25 men and 14 women) which is very low participation for a World University Championship. It must be said that sailing has met with some difficulties within the competition programme of FISU. In fact, the second WUC sailing which was to be held in Hungary in 2002 was cancelled for lack of participants. Many reasons have been put forward as explanations for these difficulties which, we hope, will not endanger the place of sailing in our championships. The first is the competition with the Olympic Games to be held in Athens next August. Some associations will probably have to choose between sending a delegation to the WUC or to the Olympic Games. The second reason is closely linked to the first. In fact, the budget needed to participate in such a championship is often very large. It must be noted that the boats are not provided by the Organising Committee (in contrast to match racing for example), which means participants must either bring their own equipment or hire it on site. Another reason may be the high number of sailing competitions on the calendar of ISAF (International Sailing Federation) which would lead to participants having to choose between different events. Finally, the system of promotion of our championships perhaps failed to anticipate the problems encountered by sailing today. It is a great pity, particularly as the course offered to the competitors of the WUC of Izmir are excellent. It must be emphasised that sailing will be part of the programme of the 2005 Universiade which will be held in Izmir. The organisers consider this event as very important and they have made all their know-how available to participants. The sailing club of Karsiyaka, located north of the bay of Izmir provides the facilities and the competitions themselves will take place in the Izmir bay, which creates a very special atmosphere.
470 (POL) - first training
Saturday, the first training sessions took place in sunny conditions with a moderate wind, constant in terms of force and direction. The participants were then invited to the first technical meeting. During this meeting the President of the Turkish University Sports Federation, Mr Kemal Tamer, welcomed the participants and thanked them for their presence. The Secretary General of this same federation, Mr Nihat Doker gave all the necessary practical information to the delegations. Mr Roland Galliot, Chairman of the FISU Technical Commission for sailing then explained the details of the course to the participants. Due to the lack of crews for the 470, it was decided to classify the girls and boys together. The participants were then invited to take part in the Opening Ceremony which took place at the Sailing Club of Karsiyaka. Tribute to the former Mayor of Izmir As a prelude to the Opening Ceremony a tribute (minute of silence) was dedicated to the former Mayor of Izmir, Mr Piristina who passed away recently. Mr Piristina was very involved in the organisation of the future Universiade (as President of the Organising Committee) and his death greatly saddened the residents of the city. The Sports Director of the city of Izmir, Mr Sabri Sadiklar took the floor to welcome the participants and to invite them to take part in the Universiade next year. Mr Tamer then thanked the competitors for their presence and wished them great success in the sailing competitions. Finally, Mr Cevat Durak, Mayor of Karsiayka opened the Championship. After raising the FISU flag, the participants witnessed a folk show.
Poland first on the mark
Day 2
Monday 5th July the racing conditions were excellent with the wind blowing between 12 and 20 knots and a cloudless sky. At the end of the second day Poland remained in a good position. In Mistral One Design Piotr Myszka (POL) did not lose a single round in the men’s competition and increased his chances of taking the final victory. In the same category for women, Natalia Kosimska (POL) was not so lucky as she dropped to third place. Her compatriot Agata Brygola did better, coming second in the provisional classification. The great winner of this second day of mistral is Wai Kei Chan (HKG) who won two rounds out of three. She now heads the provisional classification but anything is still possible. In Laser, Katarzyna Szotynska (POL) took the two rounds of the day in the women’s competition, giving herself a sure advance on the Japanese Mustumi Hamaguchi. Marcin Rudawski (POL) continued to dominate the men’s laser. He won two rounds out of three but the Turk Kemal Muslubas followed closely on his tail. Finally, Austrians and Florian Reich literally flew over the 470 event by winning all the races of the day. It will be very difficult to beat them. Note that Japanese sailor Hiromi Mori had to leave the competition (Mistral One Design) because of an injury to his knee which occurred on the first day.
Windsurf start
Final day
The World University Sailing Championship finished Thursday 8th July with a magnificent victory for the Polish team. With three gold medals, one silver and four bronze, the Poles took the whole tournament by storm. Little changed during the last two days of racing. The conditions were excellent with a strong wind on Tuesday and a more moderate wind on Thursday (Wednesday was a rest day) and a sunny sky throughout. In Mistral One Design Piotr Myszka (POL) won so many races that he took the liberty of not participating in the last round, as his first place was already guaranteed. Japanese Makoto Tomizawa, whose performance was constant during the whole week, took second place while Slovak Martin Lapos took the bronze medal. In the same category, but for women, Wai Kei Chan (HKG) took the gold medal. Her performance was consistent throughout as she resisted the competition from the two Polish women, Natalia Kosinska and Agata Brigola who came in second and third respectively. In women’s Laser, the superiority of Katarzyna Szotynska (POL) was evident. She also finished with ease, without participating in either of the two last rounds as her first place was guaranteed. Japanese Matsumi Hamugachi came in second and the other Polish woman, Agnieszka Konys finished third. Marcin Rydawski (POL) continued to dominate the classification of the men’s Laser. He took the lead ahead of Turk Kemal Muslubas and the other Pole, Patryk Lutomski. Finally, as foreseen, Austrians Matthias Schmid and Florian Reich took the 470 event by overtaking all their rivals. They also decided not to participate in the last two rounds. It must be noted that, as you can see from the photos, the FISU protocol was somewhat modified for this event. In fact, the athletes were not awarded medals but rather they were given cups in the tradition of sailing competitions. We’ll meet again next year during the Izmir Universiade to watch the world university sailing competitions.
Organizing Committee
Universite Sporlari Federasyonu Ulus Ishani A Blok Kat 2, N° 209 06050 Ulus-Ankara - Turkey phone:(90.312)3105043 fax: (90.312)3101683
Results
470: Podium
470 after eleven races: Women & Men 1 Matthias Schmid - Florian Reich AUT (male) 2 Levent Peynirci - Okan Akdag TUR (male) 3 Rafal Sawicki - Pawel Nowakowsk POL (male) 4 Hideaki Dakaguchi - Kimihiko Ima JPN (male) 5 Begum Gungor - Pinar Yilmazer TUR (female) 6 Hakan Karakaplan - Efe Karakaplan TUR (male) 7 Idil Tasar - Burcu Balaban TUR (female)
Laser: Podium
Laser after nine races: Men 1 Marcin Rudawski POL 2 Kemal Muslubas TUR 3 Patryk Kuczys Lutomski POL 4 Jurgen Brandstotter AUT 5 Yoshida Yuji JPN 6 Masumi Ozawa JPN 7 Yunus Guzelgun TUR
Women Laser: Podium
Laser after nine races: Women 1 Katarzyna Szotynska POL 2 Mutsumi Hamaguchi JPN 3 Agnieszka Konys POL 4 A. Meliha Onursal TUR
Men Windsurf: Podium
Mistral One design after ten races: Men 1 Piotr Myszka POL 2 Makoto Tomizawa JPN 3 Martin Lapos SVK 4 Milosz Wojcik POL 5 Lorand Utassy HUN 6 Tomokazu Umeda JPN 7 Ugur Iyigun TUR 8 Melih Apaydin TUR
Women Windsurf: Podium
Mistral One design after ten races: Women 1 Wai Kei Chan HKG 2 Natalia Kosinska POL 3 Agata Brygola POL 4 Chihiro Nozu JPN 5 Diana Detre HUN 6 Hiromi Mori JPN
