Switzerland's Elena Lengwiler arrived at the medal series in tenth place, yet she converted that unpromising starting position into a podium finish with a composed performance in demanding Atlantic conditions off Viana do Castelo, taking bronze.
Her semi-final passage was far from smooth. Lengwiler found herself carrying the wrong kite and unable to make a change before racing resumed. "I wanted to change my kite down before the second race, but didn't have time, so I just had to hold onto the 15m, it was a bit difficult," she said.
The grand final field was partly determined by a 1.1 penalty handed to China's Wan Li for failing to give mark-room. That ruling brought USA's Daniela Moroz through, and she joined Lengwiler, France's Lauriane Nolot, and defending champion Jessie Kampman of the Netherlands on the start line.
Kampman's title defence came apart on port tack. Forced beyond the layline by Lengwiler and Moroz, she crashed and was out of contention. Nolot took command from there, crossing first to secure the single bullet she needed for her third world title.
Nolot was candid about both the challenge Lengwiler had posed and her own preparation going into the season. "Elena was pushing so hard on the downwind," she said. "I haven't trained that much last year, and thought I could be in for a painful year. But this winter I decided to put the work in and I have the feeling it's working."
The men's final proved equally tight. Brazil's Lucas Fonseca had barely scraped through the qualification cut to reach the grand final, lining up alongside Austria's Valentin Bontus, Italy's Gian Stragiotti, and defending champion Maximilian Maeder of Singapore.
All four riders chose port-tack starts, with Maeder and Stragiotti cutting their approaches to the windward mark to within centimetres. The precision of those lines clearly weighed on Maeder. "I was afraid, I was shaking so badly in my mind," he said. "When I crossed the first mark, I was so relieved."
Stragiotti misjudged his approach and a costly double tack sent him to the back of the fleet. He recovered to second place through superior VMG on the run, rounding out a Singapore one-two as Maeder claimed his third world title.
"Finally I managed to be in the final and prove my point that I can be on the podium with the top guys," Stragiotti said. "It can't get any better than that, with my teammate on top."
Victory came down to boat lengths for Maeder, the reward for a winter training programme completed alongside his brother Karl and Italian training partner Stragiotti.
Top 3 Women
1. Lauriane Nolot (FRA)
2. Elena Lengwiler (SUI)
3. Daniela Moroz (USA)
Top 3 Men
1. Maximilian Maeder (SIN)
2. Gian Stragiotti (ITA)
3. Lucas Fonseca (BRA)
