Two days of racing in Gdynia have confirmed the Gold Fleet for the 470 Junior World Championships, with France's Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel holding the overall lead heading into the business end of the regatta.
Tuesday brought a welcome change. Sunshine and a steady 10–12-knot breeze replaced the gloomier weather of the opening day, and two races were completed to sharpen the standings before the fleet splits into Gold and Silver.
Australia's Sienna Brown summed up the mood on the water: "We're pretty happy that the sun came out. Yesterday was a bit gloomy, a bit windier, so it was nice to kind of settle down a bit, get into like a bit more of a pumping rhythm, especially today. That was a big part of the starts especially." Her crew Ellis Merrett noted the European fleet had provided a useful benchmark after training in smaller numbers back home. "It gets a bit lonely training in Sydney sometimes, just having sort of two or three boats maybe, so it's been really nice to get over here and sort of compare ourselves to the European fleet. The level is quite good. It's been a really good opportunity for us."
Merrett also admitted surprise at how pleasant the conditions turned out. "I wasn't expecting it to be this nice, so it was a good change compared to some of the warm-up days we had, which was a little bit cold and gloomy."
Valade and Bunel remain two points clear of Norway's Julia Jacobsen and Victor Loof. Italy's Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio were the standouts of the day, taking two race wins to climb to third overall and move into the lead of the U21 classification.
"The key was getting into the right position at the start and controlling the fleet," said Vucetti and Bonifacio. "We raced here three years ago in the 420 class, but I remember the conditions being much shifter than they are now. This week we've had great wind every day, including during our training before the championship."
The medal race picture is tight, with Norway, Italy, and Israel all tied on eight points and Germany's Amelie Wehrle and Riccardo Honold close behind. In the U21 standings, Ukraine's Sviatoslav Madonich and Yelyzaveta Vasylenko sit second and Israel's Tehila Sidis and Amitai Levkovitz third.
The top 28 teams move into Gold Fleet racing over the next two days, with the 2026 470 Junior World Champions decided on Friday through two Medal Series races.
