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19 September 2015, 04:48 am
Gilmour, Aschenbrenner to face off at ISAF Youth Match Worlds
Close calls
Close calls

2015 ISAF Youth Match Racing Worlds
Swinoujscie, Poland

It's set to be a showdown between Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) and Sam Gilmour (AUS) in the final of the ISAF Youth Match Racing World Championship in Swinoujscie, Poland.
A southwesterly breeze was perfect for racing to be held in the channel in Swinoujscie and it held steady between 10-12 knots throughout the early afternoon, when the quarter finals took place, and even gusted up to 20 knots.

By the start of the Semi-finals it started to ease up but there was still plenty to race with. The wind came in at about 8-10 knots and for once it didn't rain in the late afternoon for the completion of the femi-finals.

Matches for the Quarterfinals were:
Robin Follin (FRA) vs. Markus Ronnberg (FIN),

Annabel Vose (GBR) vs. Sam Gilmour (AUS),

Jelmer van Beek (NED) vs. Nevin Snow (USA),

Jakob Klitte (SWE) vs. Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN)

It was first to three in the four quarter finals and each team took a no holds barred approach in their efforts to beat their opponents physically and mentally, exhibiting incredible skill at maneuvering the TOM28s. Skippers must know the rules inside out and back-to-front in order to use them to their advantage and timing is everything. Luckily there were only a few minor contact penalties.

During the quarter-finals Follin & Ronnberg raced five flights with Ronnberg winning 3/5 moving Team Finland into the Semi-finals. Vose, not just the only female competitor but also skipper for Team Great Britain, held her own but Gilmour won in the three consecutive flights ending their match and moving Team Australia into the femi-final. Van Beek, noted as one of the most improved teams, beat Snow in the first flight but Snow won the following three moving Team USA into the semi-finals. Aschenbrenner took three back-to-back wins against Klitte moving Team Denmark to the semi-finals.

Matches for the Semi-finals were:

Nevin Snow (USA) vs. Sam Gilmour (AUS)

Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) vs. Markus Ronnberg (FIN)

The semi-finals were an intense display as the pressure mounted and confidence came into play. Match 1 was Gilmour vs. Snow. During Flight 1 Snow was given a 'Black Flag' early on and the flight ended giving Gilmour the win. In Flight 2 after a well sailed battle along the course by Snow, Gilmour was given the 'Black Flag' over a very short period of time with a cluster of penalties at the end of a downwind leg so Snow won. Snow was leading until the last leg of Flight 4 until Gilmour got past them and took the third win. In Match 2 between Ronnberg and Aschenbrenner they kept each other close up and down the racecourse. Aschenbrenner won the first flight, Ronnberg won the second, and then Aschenbrenner took the deciding match Flight 4.

On the final day, Gilmour and Aschenbrenner will compete in the Final for the title of Youth Match Racing World Champion. Meanwhile, Snow and Ronnberg will compete in the Petit-Final. The wind is predicted to be much lower tomorrow at around 7 knots with hopes for good racing in the channel.
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