Laser 4.7 Youth World Championship - Tight battles bring Gold for NZL, FRA, AUS

The 2010 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championship closed with a triple bang. After a week of racing in the warm waters off South Pattaya THA, the decisions in all three classes came down to the final race. The standings in the Under-16 Mixed class were influenced by the relegation of the dominant sailor Chaichanwoot Dee-nak THA, to the Under-18 boys division due to eligibility issues. It cleared the way for an epic battle between Ryan Amlehn NZL and Mark Spearman AUS, who traded firsts and seconds in the final two races, which was enough for Amlehn to defend his one-point lead to the end. A distant third here was Filipos Florentin GRE. Another tight finish was recorded in the Under-18 boys class with Etienne Le Pen FRA turning in two solid races, which he needed to jump from third into first, two points ahead of yesterday’s leader, Supakorn Pongwichean THA, and Jolbert van Dijk NED, who finished tied at 42 points each. Ten different nations were represented in the top 11. And Dee-nak proved with a bullet in the 11th race that yes, he can compete in the older group, too. In the Under-18 Girls class, Caitlin Elks AUS withstood the final charge of Amirah Hamid-Nur MAS. Both won one race, but Elks’ ninth in the final heat gave her a two-point edge overall. Oren Jacob ISR took third, equal in points with Ashlie Lane AUS, but winning the tiebreaker. See all the results the gallery and the event site.