This weekend’s top nautical sports updates: 18-19 september

Red Bull Sailing Team claims the GC32 Worlds at Villasimius

The team beat the leaders Alinghi in Villasimius, Sardinia, during the third GC32 World Championship. Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher started the last day with a six point lead. However as the day progressed, the Swiss champions proved to be on fire and posted a 1-1-2-1 scoreline. 

As Alinghi began leading and seemed to have the championship under their belt, they suffered a breakage that caused them to finish seventh while Red Bull Sailing Team finished fourth. This allowed the Austrian team to jump to the top and win this third leg of the competition. 

The Austrian team are double Olympic Champions and also won two World Championships in the Tornado catamaran. Alinghi are the two time America’s Cup winners and they have won the first two competitions at the Lagos Cup 1 and 2. 

Three first-time world champions at canoe sprints of Copenhagen

At the 2021 ICF Canoe Sprint Championships Canada’s Katie Vincent and New Zealand’s Aimee Fisher stepped up to the podium. Also, Italy won its first ever C2 men’s 500m gold while Spain regained the first place after a four year gap. Belarus women’s K4 500m also ended their six-year-long losing streak. 

This was the first time Katie Vincent won a senior world championship medal in the women’s C1 200m after seeing her teammate Laurence Vincent-Lapointe taking six of the eight titles. New Zealand’s Aimee Fisher also won her first K1 500 world title against her teammate Lisa Carrington, the reigning world champion and current Olympic champion. 

The Challenger Series: US Open of Surfing Huntington Beach presented by Shiseido

In surfing the US Open of Surfing Huntington Beach presented by Shiseido takes place from September 20-26. This is the first of four Challenger Series events this year, and 10,000 qualification points are on the table for whoever tops the podium. 

On the men’s side this year’s top surfers include Conner Coffin who finished fourth in the inaugural Rip Curl WSL Finals, Griffin Colapinto and two-time U.S Open winner Kanoa Igarashi. On the women’s side, CT surfers Caroline Marks, Isabella Nichols, Keely Andrew and Brisa Hennessy battle hometown favourite Courtney Conlogue. 

Italia Sailing Team announces entry in The Ocean Race 2022-23

During a press conference organized by the Yacht Club Italiano, the Italian Minister of Tourism, Massimo Garavaglia, gave his support on the Italian entry of the Italia Sailing Team at The Ocean Race 2022-23. 

The goal is to give Italian tourism another boost and enhance the Made in Italy brand. In the coming weeks they will announce the team and other key information. This will be the first Italian-backed entry in The Ocean Race in more than 20 years. 

The Ocean Race is the ultimate test in world sailing as teams travel the world competing at different locations while caring for the ocean's health and impact.