Federico Bergamasco flies higher than anyone and wins the WASZP world championship!

It couldn’t get any better than this in England.

Federico Bergamasco waszp world champion!

The young promise of Italian flying sailing, the Genoese, Federico Bergamasco, has won the world title in the WASZP (singlehanded foil dinghy invented in 2010) overall and Under 21 (8.2 & 7.5 category) class in Weymouth (GB). The Waterfront Sailing Club Genova and Team Dry Laps athlete, coached by Simone Malagugini, closed Friday night’s racing with a three-point lead over Spanish opponent Pablo Astiazaran, thus celebrating his rainbow success one year after the bronze medal (and again the Under 21 title) he won in the last edition.

As many as 226 participants competed in the WASZP fleet, divided into the 8.2 & 7.5 and 6.9 category (the numbers indicate the square meters of sails rigged). The races were held in particularly challenging weather and sea conditions: winds above 20 knots and cold temperatures put the competitors through their paces.

Bergamasco achieved excellent partials: four first places, three seconds and a fifth. The Spaniard Astiazaran struggled to the last, always staying in close contact. On the eve of the last day, the Genoese could count on a nine-point lead, but two unfortunate episodes in the thirteenth race, which saw his boat stopped by seaweed stranded on the foil, allowed the Spaniard to make up ground. Astiazaran netted three points in race 13 and another in race 14. The last two races were a real battle: after three cancelled starts, Bergamasco finished ninth in race 16, while Astiazaran crossed the finish line fourth.

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Winning a world championship in your own land is a crazy thrill. Right Magdalena?

A placing that still allowed the Italian to confirm the lead and win the world title both overall and Under 21.

Other Italians included Francesco Carrieri, thirteenth overall and close to the Top 10, Alessio Castellan, twenty-third, Enzio Savoini, thirty-fifth and Master (Over 30) world champion, Luca Franceschini, thirty-eighth, Gabriele Venturino, forty-eighth, Alfredo Salerno, sixtieth, Pietro Caminiti, sixty-fourth, Jacopo Tesei, sixty-sixth and Jacopo Travaini, sixty-seventh. The World Masters title, however, went to the stainless Enzio Savoini, an athlete from Yacht Club Imperia.

Victory and dominance also in the 6.9 category

And that’s not all, in the 6.9 category Italy occupies all the top four positions in the overall standings. The winner is Olivia Castaldi, new overall and women’s world champion, ahead of Jacopo Andrian, second overall and men’s world champion. Third place for Pietro Moncada, second among the men, and fourth for Riccardo Bille, third among the men. Completing the women’s podium was Clarissa Vedovelli with her third place, sixth overall. Completing the Italian representative Giuseppe Chiantera, eighth, Davide Balenzano, 10th, and Francesco De Santis, 13th.

Federico Lanfranchi