The Italian flag was flying the highest after the competition of the serious gold fleet racing finals at the Narca 17 World Championships.
This event is held at La Grande Motte, South France and the day four was the day when the first day of the gold fleet racing finals was held. The Italian team of RuggeroTita and Caterina Banti had a near perfect day and they won all the three races on this important day. By winning the day, the Italians were 2 points clear on top of the leaderboard and following them are their close rivals Spain’s Tara Pacheco and Fernando Echavarri. The third position is in the hands of Spain’s Iker Martinez and Olga Maslivets, who are just a point a drift the second placed team.
There are still six races to go and of course, there is also the Sunday’s medal race. There is no doubt that the leaderboard can change and will change. The gold fleet finals are heading for an exciting finish as there are seven teams that are placed with just 10 points between them. This means that even the 7th ranked team can become the leader of the pack and win the finals.
The Italian pair of Banti and Tita were off to a poor start and had to fight their way to get to the 15thposition in the 24-boat gold fleet race. The breezy conditions of 10 to 12 knots remained steady for all the three races and Banti and Tita had the better of these conditions, when many others became casualties.
The experienced Echavarria said that there is a lot of racing still left in the championship. It is very easy to make mistakes in every race. It would be really tough to come back to the top once you go to the wrong side.