Nitai Hasson and Noa Lesri are the Israeli champions in the 470 sailing. The young Israeli duo Nina Amir and Aviv Asraf surprised and finished in second place. The gold in the competition went to the Swedish pair.
Three days of the Israeli championship in sailing 470 boats ended today (Tuesday) in Sdot Yam, where the Israeli champions were crowned – Nitai Hason and Noa Lasri, from the Sdot Yam club. This year’s championship was the preparatory competition for the World Championship that will start next week, and 46 teams from 30 countries participated in it. The competition was particularly heated, both in terms of its size, and in terms of the difficult conditions in the area.
The first day of competition began with light winds and did not prepare the competitors for what happened next. As soon as preparations were made for the second cruise, the wind rose to a speed of 40 knots and a northerly gale began to blow. The competition organizers stopped the competition immediately and returned the competitors to the beach. Nevertheless, several boats overturned and were damaged.
The second day took place in strong winds and was the most successful for Hasson and Lasri, who were at the front of the fleet in the cruises. After three cruises, on the third day the team finished in ninth place overall and first among the Israelis. The young duo, Nina Amir and Aviv Asraf, managed to surprise and finished the competition in 15th place overall and in the silver medal among the Israelis, and even managed to win one cruise in the competition. The third place went to Gil Cohen and Noam Matari. As mentioned, among the foreign teams, the Swedish pair stood out in particular, which completely dominated the competition.
On the sidelines of the competition, an unusual event occurred, when after the second day’s sailing, one of the German contestants noticed a swimmer drowning in the sea. The boatman jumped into the water and managed to get him to shore, when he was unconscious, where a Spanish boatman performed CPR on him, until the intensive care team arrived. The drowning man was transferred to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in serious condition.
Shay Bover, Chairman of the Sailing Association: “There was a very challenging competition where we saw how difficult it is to succeed and to be at the top of the world in this model. This was a preparation for the real event and we believe that even in the peak event of the year it is possible to screw high.’
Also, the Israeli national team had an excellent start at the IQ Foil World Championship. After a day of waiting for the wind, today the Israeli windsurfing team started the World Championship held in Brest, France.
In the women’s team, Shahar Tibi started in an excellent way with five cruises in which she finished in the first five places, including a victory in one cruise, placing her in fourth place overall at the end of the day. Her teammate, Daniela Peleg, also had a great day, but a disqualification in the first cruise made her finish eighth on the day. The top ten is rounded off by Tamar Steinberg, for whom this is the first senior championship.
In men, an excellent opening for Tom Reuvani who is in fifth place overall after four cruises. Yoav Omar is in 15th place.