Heavy overnight rain and a weak pressure gradient produced calm conditions and a delayed start to the final races in the Laser Radial Youth World Championship. As soon as a light north westerly wind arrived the fleet were sent afloat but the breeze took at least an hour to settle in the east.

With only time for one race the championship could only be won by either the overnight leader or runner up. Tactics between the two, Jean Baptiste Bernaz FRA and Nathan Outteridge AUS, changed with Bernaz needing to finish in the top five or ahead of Outteridge. Bernaz got a loose cover on Outteridge at the start and kept ahead of him throughout the race with the two of them finishing eleventh and twenty fifth respectively.

In 5-6 kts the fleet split evenly up the first windward leg with first the left and then the right paying. Chris Boon AUS was first at the windward mark followed by 15-year-old Sean Kelly from the USA. Keelly said: “Chris Boon stayed out in front for all of the race. I lost a few boats downwind but got back up to third by the end of the second upwind and then overtook Paul Brinkly AUS on the last downwind.”

At 16 years old Bernaz, a sports education student from the south of France, is looking forward to taking part in the 2008 Olympics in the Laser class. Leading home a high quality fleet with eight nations from three continents filling the top eight places he has certainly taken a big step up the ladder to achieving his dream.

In tenth place overall 17-year-old Cecilia Sarolli Caranzai from Argentina shares the same dream as Bernaz but is hoping she will be able to compete in the Laser Radial. Scoring a top ten result in all nine of her counting races in a wide range of conditions her result has motivated her to continue her international campaign.

Overall Results (with 2 discards after protests)

1 FRA BERNAZ Jean Baptiste, M, 23pts

2 AUS OUTTERIDGE Nathan, M, 26pts

3 CRO MIHELIC Daniel, M 35pts

4 BRA JAKOBSSON Daniel, M, 43pts

5 ESP PADRON Javier, M, 49pts

6 GBR DAVIDSON Campbell, M, 52pts

7 FRA FREI Mathieu, M, 54pts

8 NZL MCLAY Blair, M, 57pts

9 AUS MORGAN Simon, M, 59pts

10 ARG CARRANZA SAROLI Cecilia, F 62pts

11 IRL BYRNE Conor, M, 67pts

12 GBR DOBSON Charlotte, F, 68pts

13 GBR STOTHERT Alex John, M, 72pts

14 JPN YASUDA Shinnosuke, M, 85pts

15 FRA GEFFRAY Germain, M, 97pts