Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Although the two World Champions had already been determined coming into the final day of racing, there was still a lot on the line for some of the competitors, and race committee made a determined effort to get in one more race. The trouble is, nature wasn’t cooperating.
The forecast was for a dying north breeze to eventually be replaced by a thermal breeze after swinging through the west, with light and variable winds. Unfortunately the forecast was pretty accurate. The winds were light (zero to eight knots, averaging around three). And they were variable (from 070 through 350 and down to 220, with oscillations regularly greater than 70 degrees).
With hopes for suitable conditions fading as the afternoon wore on, the signal boat hoisted AP over A flags, which the sailors all cheered and then started heading back to shore.
But no regatta is complete without an abandonment being followed by a new breeze appearing shortly afterwards. And sure enough, the new breeze appeared from the south and gave all the sailors a pleasant push back to the harbour.
The final day of racing concluded at the 4.7 Youth World Championships the way the regatta began, with no races completed. But in-between, there were 11 really strong races in great conditions. The two winners in the boys and girls divisions were superb from beginning to end and never had a bad race, and that is how you earn a World Champion title.