Techno 293 OD | World Championships 2021

Final day: Grazie Mille Torbole! 

The most legendary inland sailing spot in the world in a stunning location, has welcomed yet again the Techno293 Class. This time it was special, as we had 300 competitors from Asia, Africa and Europe and being a Junior and Youth Class, it meant it was a first major event for many of the sailors coming to Torbole.

We’ve been here for 10 days of Techno, opening with the TWF 130 International Championships, then moving swiftly on to these 2021 Techno293 World Championships, as guests of the hugely experienced and superbly well organised local club, Circolo Surf Torbole, working hand-in-hand with the IWA (International Windsurfing Association) to ensure yet another successful event. And this has been the biggest windsurf championships in the world in 2021.

The IWA classes took this opportunity to thank the host and dedicated to Circolo Surf Torbole the Ceri Williams award in recognition of those who, like Ceri Williams, demonstrate that they are seeking excellence and stand at the service of the sport of windsurfing and the kids who love it. Circolo Surf Torbole represents all the values of excellence pursued by IWA in its institutional activity. Especially in 2020 and 2021 the club guaranteed a very high level of sporting, educational and didactic activity, despite the enormous difficulties encountered in the pandemic.



Day 3: The future is now! 

The mid-point of the competition after 3 days of racing, and everything is accelerating towards the moment of truth at this Techno 293 World Championships, here on beautiful Lake Garda, Italy. There’s more than 15 years of history of Techno World Champions, but the future is being decided right here, right now, by the 300 young windsurfers who’ve come from more than 20 countries to soak up the Techno experience from the best place possible.

Blue skies and strong wind were both freely available in the morning, which prompted the race committee to send out the U17 Boys, for 2 more rounds of decisive, moment of truth races, taking them to 6 races overall, and the point where the axe fell, cutting the ranking in two, with the top half (Gold Fleet) going on to race for the medals, while the lower half (Silver Fleet) continue racing for the fun and the honour. In the strong wind there was a big shake up of the possible podium positions that continued during the afternoon, with 1 more race, the first of the final series.

Yesterday in the afternoon the wind calmed down, perfect timing for the race committee to send the younger fleets out. The U15 fleets each enjoyed 2 more rounds which consolidated the leading places in the rankings for some, and opened a possible door to others.

In U15 Girls, Maria Rudowicz (Poland) strengthened her lead over Anna Polettini (Italy), and they look comfortable ahead of fast-climbing Azul Sanchez Vallejo (Spain), moving into 3rd place, with only 2 points separating 3rd, 4th and 5th. Meanwhile, the U15 Boys result is starting to look like a done deal, Itmar Levi (Israel) running away at the top after compatriot Omer Shemesh’s bad day. Shemesh holds on to second place ahead of the consistent Dmitrii Nesterenko (Russia).

The U13s only had time for 1 more race, which made little or no difference to the leading places, it’s a 1-2-3 for Italy with Mathias Bortolotti, Perluigi Caproni and Luca Pachiotti 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The best placed girl is another Italian, Medea Marisa Falcioni defending her 6th place but not able to make any impression on the top 3.

The U17 Girls ranking has been a 2-way battle all week, with Kristyna Chalupnikova (Czech Republic) and Polina Ovchinnikova (Russia) leading the way. They’ll be looking nervously over their shoulders at the fast-rising Nela Sadikova (Czech Republic) who has jumped into the 3rd podium spot after 7 completed rounds.

The biggest shake-up came in U17 Boys, with Britain’s Boris Shaw leap-frogging his way into the provisional lead after 6 races, only for Italy’s Federico Alan Pilloni to snatch the lead back in the day’s final race.

They are still ahead of Spain’s consistent Billy Coll Tulloch, while Italy’s Alessandro Graciotti slipped back to 5th.

There’s still time for movement and change to most of the rankings and plenty to race for in the last 3 days. A lot will depend on the wind and weather conditions. As today is a strong wind day for all!


Day 2: Sun, wind, sailing

The wait is over, the superb spot here at Lake Garda was open for business on this second day of the 2021 Techno 293OD World Championships. The sun shone, the wind blew, and all the fleets were able to finally get out and enjoy all that is great about this amazing class, sailing and racing together, competing hard for the coveted World Champion Techno 293OD titles that are at stake.

Techno 293OD for young sailors (U15s and U17s) has existed for more than 15 years, there’s plenty of history, but the future is youth, and for 2021 Techno has created a new class, for U13 riders, where girls and boys compete together. No surprise that as many as 60 U13s are here in Torbole, to join in on the Techno adventure and enjoy the unique Techno experience, on and off the water.

Although Monday’s conditions didn’t allow them to get into the action, today’s wind and sun gave everyone, especially the U13s, the opportunity to show their skills. The race committee ran a full programme, 3 races for all categories, except the U13s, who had 4 to make up for the blank previous day. That takes them all to 4 races completed.

In U13, it’s the Italian boys dominating for now, holding the top 3 spots, Mathias Bortolotti leading the way, with the top placed girl, Medea Marisa Falcioni, currently just outside the podium places in 6th. In U15 Girls, Poland’s Maria Rudowicz holds a slender advantage over Italy’s Anna Polettini, with Hungary’s Hanna Simon 3rd. In U15 Boys, Israel’s Itmar Levi and Omer Shemesh are having a private ding-dong for top spot, with Russia’s Dmitrii Nesterenko further back in 3rd. The U17 Girls ranking has Czech Republic’s Kristyna Chalupnikova leading narrowly from Russia’s Polina Ovchinnikova, with Spain’s Barbara Winau Ordinas hanging on to 3rd.

U17 Boys is the biggest category, with 89 riders currently divided into 2 fleets, Grey and Blue. Day 3 (Wednesday) will be make-or-break day for all of them, the results of both fleets will be combined, then the top half will go on to contest the medal spots over the last 3 days, with the bottom half continuing to race but no longer for the medal podium positions. As things stand, it’s incredibly tight  with just 9 points covering the top 10. Top of the pile overnight is Federico Alan Pilloni (Italy), narrowly ahead of Meletios Kalpoiannikis (Greece), with Billy Coll Tulloch (Spain) and Boris Shaw (Britain) 3rd and 4th.

It's all boiling up towards the end of week climax and final results. Fingers crossed that the weather gods continue to smile and that all these great young windsurfers can enjoy themselves to the max.

 

There will always be Championships to win, but there’s only one Techno 293OD. Stay tuned for all the updates!


Day 1: Short day on the water!

Monday officially started the Championship with only one regatta for the under 15s and under 17s fleets as the wind arrived only late afternoon. A short warm’up for the U15 and U17.


Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy | 300 youngsters from 20 countries!

Techno293 Worlds are the biggest windsurfing of the year, after more than 15 years of providing an open door to any and every young hopeful anywhere, to experience sailing, racing on equal terms, enjoying themselves on the water, sharing a passion. It’s also a proven gateway to higher-level competition for those that want to take it all the way.   

6 days of Techno 293OD racing in 3 fleets, U17 (men and women titles), U15 (girl and boy titles), and this year, due to popular demand from kids, coaches, and parents alike, U13, where girls and boys will compete together for one World Champion title.

300 youngsters, from over 20 countries have signed up to compete at these championships, and that’s without any teams from America or Down Under, due to continued Covid/travel restrictions, so there could have been even more! Our big thanks to the local organizers Circolo Surf Torbole for making all the logistics possible.

The arrivals hall has been very busy all weekend welcoming all the competitors, families, supporters, and coaches to the spot.



How to follow Techno 293 OD World Championships 2021


Watch the opening ceremony