Day 2 & 3
Sunshine, spectacular scenery, and fair-weather sailing! After Day 1 saw tactical racing in light wind conditions, a stronger breeze of 10-12 knots from south-southwest came in for Day 2 and Day 3.

There are 60 RS Aero youth sailors taking part in the third rendition of the Youth Worlds; 39 in the RS Aero 5 fleet, nine in the RS Aero 6 fleet, and 12 in the RS Aero 7 fleet.

A good crowd of local athletes are representing Sweden, with other European entries coming from Estonia, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and there are even some state-side competitors who have travelled from the USA.

The ones to watch include 2024 RS Aero 5 European Champion (and 2023 RS Aero Italian Youth Champion), Enrico Loi  (LNI Cagliari, ITA), who is currently climbing the leader board in seventh place in the RS Aero 5s. Teammate, Andrea De Matteis (CV Nox Oceani, ITA), a bronze medallist at the 2023 RS Aero Youth Team Racing European Championship, is also showing what the Italians can bring to the table, sitting at the top of the RS Aero 6 fleet at the end of Day 3. Among the local fleet, Aron Warnberg (Ljungskile SS, SWE), is a favourite among the RS Aero 7s as the 2022 Swedish RS Aero National Champion, currently in second place.

At the mid-week point, Sweden's Hugo Sköld Orr (Royal Swedish YaC, SWE) and Estonia's Mia Marin Lilienthal (Kalevi JK, EST) are tied in first position in the RS Aero 5 fleet. Andrea De Matteis (CV Nox Oceani, ITA) is leading the RS Aero 6 fleet, and Sweden's Erik Rahm (Royal Gothenburg YC, SWE) is at the top of the RS Aero 7 fleet. With two more days of racing to go, and another 6 races on the cards, the competition is far from over!

Tonight, sailors will enjoy their big regatta dinner. 

Day 4
Only one race was possible for all fleets after 'sea smoke' (fog) for caused a delay early on and the wind was set to die later. With Race 10 the second discard came into play, giving some small shuffles to the overall standings that was also impacted by 13 of the 39 RS Aero 5s being Black Flagged as over eager at the start!  15 RS Aero 5 sailors sought redress from the Race Committee relating to the start of Race 10, but redress was not granted.

Last years champion, Elliot Hellstrom (Linkopings JS, SWE) won Race 10 in the RS Aero 5s and stepped up to 4th overall. Hugo Skoll Orr (Royal Swedish YC, SWE) now tops the overall standings going into the final day after being able to discard a 19th.

The RS Aero 6 has become a closely fought Italian battle with Francesco Columbano now within a point of Andrea De Matteis (both CV Nox Oceani, ITA).

In the RS Aero 7s Erik Rahm (Royal Gothenburg, SWE) has a nice lead after a 2nd place to Mark Ripley (Paignton SC, GBR) who was 1st in Race 10.

Day 5
Two races finished off the championship with a wind of 5-8m/s (10-15kn) and waves bigger than has been seen this week so far. 

In the RS Aero 5s Hugo Skol Orr (SWE) finished emphatically with two 1sts to lift the trophy from Mia Martin Lithenthal (EST) who, equally emphatically scored two 2nds to take 2nd overall and first female. Elliot Hellstrom (SWE) had a strong finish to the regatta to take 3rd overall. Top Junior Male (U17) was Ott Richard Haal in 5th and top Junior Female was Kirke Kulmsaar (EST).

The RS Aero 6s Italian showdown went to Andrea De Matteis (ITA) who scored two wins to secure the title from his copatriot Francesco Columbano (ITA). Meribel Vahstein finished well to be top female and 3rd overall. Top Junior (U17) was Ida Kayser (SWE).

The clearest victory was that of Erik Rahm (SWE) in the RS Aero 7s with 8 wins from 12 races. 2nd overall was copatriot Aron Warnberg (SWE) with Dieter Creitz (USA) stepping up to 3rd overall on the final day.  Top Junior (U17) was Axel Ekerstig (SWE) in 6th.

The week provided a fantastic variety of testing conditions and plenty of glorious sunshine in Sweden. Many thanks to Marstrand SS for running a fantastic championship with their expertise and enthusiasm. The International Jury helped to ensure racing was fair and enjoyable. RS Sailing and RS Sailing Swedend provided charter boats and event support. Thank you to Rooster for their assistance with prizes and support.

The next RS Aero Youth Worlds will take place within the main RS Aero World Championship at Quiberon, France, from 28th July - 2nd August 2025


PHOTOS
Album thanks to Vilgot Hjort
Swedish Gallery