The Italian Sailing Team won the Hempel World Cup Series Nations Trophy, awarded to the highest performing nation at the Final, on Sunday 9 June as the 2019 series concluded in Marseille, France.
Team Italy were in outstanding form all week long and won gold in three of the ten Olympic events and added one silver and two bronze medals to their impressive haul.
Marseille was plagued with a light fickle breeze on the final day which was only deemed suitable for racing at 16:00 local time. By the time a 6-10 knot north west breeze came in, the Laser, Laser Radial and Finn Medal Races had been cancelled and only allowed the Men's and Women's 470 to complete theirs within the allocated time slot.
Gold medals and the Hempel World Cup Series titles in the Men's and Women's 470 went to Mat Belcher and Will Ryan of Australia and France's Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz. Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA) took the Italian teams third gold medal in the Laser and Lithuania's Viktorija Andrulyte was confirmed gold medallist in the Laser Radial. Andy Maloney secured Finn gold for New Zealand. Summed to the ones from yesterday Mattia Camboni (ITA) and Lilian de Geus in the RS:X men and women, Vittorio Bissaro e Maelle Frascari (ITA) in the Nacra 17, the 49er and 49erFX titles went to the way of Federico and Arturo Alonso (ESP) and Julie Bossard and Aude Compan (FRA), and Nicolas Parlier (FRA) won in the Open Kiteboarding.
New Zealand's Andy Maloney and Josh Junior battled all week in the Finn, dominating at the front of the fleet. Maloney prevailed thanks to a consistent scoreline that saw him finish outside of the top five just once. Junior finished eight points off Maloney but fought hard all week long as the pair enjoy a spirited rivalry.
"Josh and I have both been sailing really well, going fast which is really good for this stage in the season," said Maloney. "Out on the water Josh and I are rivals and trying to beat each other. Obviously we both want to win the regattas but during our campaign we're helping each other out.
"Even in between races we are sharing settings, talking about what worked well and aiming for one-two in each race. It's working well and we're progressing with each race."
Tokyo 2020 is just 410 days away but the World Cup win has positioned New Zealand as Finn medal contenders for the Olympic Games, "Only one of us will go to the Olympics," continued Maloney," but whoever that person is will have a shot at gold rather than just being there to make up the numbers.
"Every regatta is important for us between now up until someone is selected. This is our first one-two, which we've been trying to do for the last few months so we've got a few free coffees coming our way. There's a selection committee [to decide who goes to Tokyo 2020] but that's confidential within the group."
Sweden's Max Salminen rounded off the podium.
SSL Press Officer since 2015
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