Aimee Bright has made a flying start to the iQFOiL under-23 World Championships in Poland, winning three of four races on the opening day to take a three-point lead in the women’s fleet.
The Manly Sailing Club windfoiler leads Norway’s Maya Gysler after the first day of racing on the Bay of Puck, where 148 sailors from 34 nations are competing for world championship honours.
Racing got underway in 15–18 knots, with the race committee completing four course races for all fleets. Bright was the standout performer in the women’s fleet, putting herself at the top of the leaderboard with three race wins.
Her performance comes after a challenging senior iQFOiL World Championships in Weymouth, where illness affected her preparation and she finished 19th.
Bright’s opening-day form continues an impressive 12 months for the young Kiwi, who has collected silver medals at both the iQFOiL European Championships in Portugal in May and the Olympic Classes Regatta in Long Beach in July.
Aimee Bright won all but one course race on the opening day in Puck. Photos / iQFOiL Class
She returns to the under-23 Worlds having won silver at last year’s championship in Portimão, Portugal, as part of a Kiwi one-two with Stella Bilger taking gold.
Bilger is now competing under the Australian flag and sits sixth overall after the opening four races, 13 points behind Bright.
Latest results and standings here.
Originally published by Yachting New Zealand.
