Day four at the 470 Junior World Championships in Gdynia turned out to be one of the more unpredictable days of the regatta. Light winds forced a long delay after the opening race, and the leaderboard shifted as a result.
France's Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel finished second in the first race to move back into the overall lead. Israel's Roy Levy and Ariel Gal picked up a black flag disqualification for starting too early, a costly error that left them crossing the line seventh in race two. Slovenia's Martin Fras and Mija Škerlavaj took the win in that second race, with Valade and Bunel fourth. The French pair head into finals day at the top, with the Israeli team in second.
The race committee got through two races for the Gold Fleet and three for the Silver Fleet before calling it a day.
Ukraine's Sviatoslav Madonich and Yelyzaveta Vasylenko sit 11th overall, two points outside the top ten. It is their first major regatta together as a team, and Madonich said the focus has been on communication. "The most important thing was to communicate more, understand what we needed to do together and how to talk to each other," he said. He called the championship "a really great experience" and said the team is pleased with how it has gone.
New Zealand's Tessa Clinton and Will Mason are third in the U21 standings going into the final day. Italy's Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio lead that category after finishing sixth and second in today's racing, with Israel's Tehila Sidis and Amitai Levkovitz in second.
Points have been reset for the medal series, so nothing is settled. The first possible warning signal for the medal series is at 1400, with the last race possible from 1330.
