The winners of five classes were decided during the fifth day of racing at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF Wold Championship yesterday in Gydnia, Poland.

Just the Laser Boys and Hobie class titles remain unclaimed. Nerves of steel and a cool head were required by competitors as they faced difficult a shifty southerly wind.

French sailor, Sarah Steyaert, made light work of winning the Laser Girls’ fleet. She commented: “I feel great. I want to go to the Beijing Olympics in the Europe Class.”

Second and third places are still wide open however, Cecilia Anza Saroli (ARG) had a spectacular day with two firsts. She now moves into third place behind Charlotte Dobson (GBR) who is just two points ahead. Cecilia commented: “I knew that going into today’s racing I needed to have a very positive attitude. I did what I needed to but it was difficult as the winds were very shifty.”

The Laser Boys’ fleet remains wide open with any of the top three sailors in contention for the gold medal. Nick Thompson (GBR) leads the fleet going into the final race and must finish in the top seven to win the regatta. Nick commented: “I met the German and Croatian at the Europa Cup earlier this year so I knew that they would put up some tough competition. The Polish guy is also good although he’s not having his best regatta. I know what I need to do tomorrow to win overall – start with the top runners and sail conservatively.”

The Australian team showed their prowess in the 420 class with both Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson and Nathan Outteridge/Iain Jensen winning their fleets with a race to go. Outteridge said: ‘This is my third gold at this event. I will race tomorrow as I need to get points for the Australian team. This is my last 420 regatta, I’ll now be moving into the 470 Olympic training squad.”

Meanwhile there is a battle going on for second place in the 420 Boys’ fleet between the British and French crews. These two crews would have been tied on 44 points if the jury had not fined the British crew five points for failing to tally in after racing yesterday. Another British duo, Pippa Wilson and Hariette Trumble (GBR), are battling for second place in the Girls’ 420 fleet, snapping at the heels of their German counterparts who are just two points ahead.

The two Mistral gold medals were also clinched. With a first and a third, Kamil Lewandowski (POL) proved too strong for his competition and won the boys’ event with a race in hand. Lewandowski commented: “The top five in this fleet are really strong. It takes physical and mental strength. I only live 15km away but I have only raced here twice in the past. We came to this event well prepared as we had sailed in a couple of other competitions beforehand.”

Zophia Kelpacka (POL) who goes to Athens later this year said: “I am very happy to have won this event for the fourth time. It has been a good warm up for the Olympics as the wind in Athens will also be offshore. I’ve had a great time as I have a lot of friends here and to have won four times is certainly a great stage to be at before moving onto Olympic sailing.”

Both Polish windsurfers will race today to help bolster their teams overall standing in this championship and add crucial points to the Volvo Trophy rankings.

Competition is hotting up in the Hobie fleet. The British team lead going into the final day three points ahead of France and 11 ahead of the Guatamalans.

The battle for the Volvo Trophy is fierce with France leading Britain by just two points.

Results (after day five)

Hobie Cat 16

1, Tom Phipps/Jonathan Cook, GBR (2,1,(DSQ),1,2,1,3,1,1,2,(7)) 14 pts

2, Julien Villion/Martin Bataille, FRA ((DNF),3,2,2,1,2,1,(4),2,3,1) 17 pts

3, Juan Maegli/Jason Hess, GUA (1,2,2,3,(DSQ),3,2,2,5,6,(9)) 25 pts

Mistral girls

1, Zofia Klepacka, POL ((1),1,1,1,1,(2),1,1,1,1,1) 9 pts

2, Sophie Anne Le Page, FRA (2,(4),(3),3,2,1,2,2,2,2,(OCS)) 19 pts

3, Laura Linares, ITA (3,2,(5),4,5,3,3,(7),5,3,2) 30 pts

GBR

9, Jilly Bromley ((DNF),9,10,(DNF),8,7,4,8,8,11,7) 72 pts

Mistral boys

1, Kamil Lewandowski, POL (2,1,4,(15),(OCS),1,1,1,1,1,3) 15 pts

2, Federica Esposito, ITA (6,2,6,1,2,2,(9),(10),6,5,7) 37 pts

3, Nimrod Esposito, ISR ((9),7,5,2,(OCS),4,3,8,3,3,4) 39 pts

GBR

4, Richard Potter, GBR (1,4,8,5,1,5,2,(13),(16),7,11) 44 pts

Laser Radial girls

1, Sarah Steyaert, FRA (1,1,(8),2,(9),4,1,1,5,2,4) 21 pts

2, Charlotte Dobson, GBR ((17),3,2,1,8,3,4,(OCS),7,4,2) 34 pts

3, Cecilia Anza Saroli, ARG ((18),4,3,3,1,5,16,(OCS),2,1,1) 36 pts

Laser boys

1, Nick Thompson, GBR (4,2,4,1(10),5,1,(14),1,(DNF),6) 34 pts

2, Simon Groteluschen, GER (2,9,3,6,(15),4,4,(20),4,2,7) 41 pts

3, Towci Stipanovic, CRO (3,(BFD),5,4,11,1,(DSQ),8,8,1,1) 42 pts

420 boys

1, Nathan Outteridge/Iain Jensen, AUS (1,2,1,4,1,2,1,(5),(15),3,1) 16 pts

2, Jonathan McGovern/Stuart Bithell, GBR (9,5,8,5,(13),(15),4,4,1,6,2) 44 pts

3, Thomas Rahier/Mathieu Rahier, FRA (3,3,2,(8),7,5,(19),6,2,8,(14)) 44 pts

420 girls

1, Elise Rechichi/Tessa Parkinson, AUS (1,1,2,1,(11),1,(8),1,2,2,1) 12 pts

2, Lydia Koppin/Kristina Kummer, GER (5,(22),6,3,3,3,(7),2,5,7,4) 38 pts

3, Pippa Wilson/Harriette Trumble, GBR (2,(20),14,8,2,(15),4,4,3,1,2) 40 pts

Volvo Trophy (Best Overall Nation)

1, France 360 pts

2, Great Britain 358 pts

3, Australia 331 pts