Marseille, France (June 8, 2019) – After a hard earned Men’s RS:X Medal Race win, Mattia Camboni (ITA) moved from fourth up first to claim the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series title as six

fleets concluded racing in Marseille, France. Camboni won the first gold medal of the day in the Men’s RS:X and was swiftly followed by Dutch racer, Lilian de Geus in the Women’s RS:X.

Having led for most of the week, Italy’s Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Frascari sealed the deal in the Nacra 17 and the 49er and 49erFX titles went to the way of Federico and Arturo Alonso

(ESP) and Julie Bossard and Aude Compan (FRA). Nicolas Parlier (FRA) won the Open Kiteboarding Medal Race and with it, gold. Today’s champions claim the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series titles

separated the top five who all had a shot. Piotr Myszka led on 26 points followed by Daniele Benedetti (ITA) on 27, Pierre Le Coq (FRA) on 29, Camboni on 32 and Louis Giard (FRA) on 33.

Myszka started the race in gold medal position and got off to the best start. The fleet headed to the right side of the track and Spain’s Angel Granda-Roque (ESP) was able to advance.

Camboni stuck closely to the Spaniard and found the right layline on the race track to push ahead and grab the lead as Myszka started to struggle. Camboni clinched the lead on the final

downwind and claimed the win, punching the air with celebratory relief, as he knew he would win a medal. The color was to be decided as the points were tight and Camboni watched the fleet

sail through. Giard followed in third with Benedetti coming through in fifth, Myszka in seventh and le Coq in ninth. This handed Camboni the gold medal with his compatriot Benedetti picking

up silver. Giard completed the podium on 39 points as Myszka missed out on a medal entirely by a single point. “This means a lot,” expressed Camboni. “Last year I missed out on a medal and

it’s so good to be at the top, especially at the final of the World Cup. “I didn’t have a good start but I said okay, now I have to give everything. I knew I could do it. I really like these

conditions and I just did the easy things right – good laylines and pumped a lot. I just believed and knew I could do it. I had some luck but I had a really good week and was hoping for a

medal.” The Hempel World Cup Series Final also acted as a qualification event for the Italian RS:X team for READY STEADY TOKYO – Sailing, the Olympic test event. Camboni’s victory will go a

long way in him taking the single Italian spot but he is happy to share his success with a compatriot, “It’s nice to be at the top with Daniele. It will be a big fight to get to the Olympic

Games and the one who will go with have a good chance at a medal.” Lilian de Geus (NED) had a comfortable advantage heading into the Women’s RS:X Medal Race. She stayed out of trouble in a

light wind final race, finishing third which confirmed gold. “It feels really good, I’m really happy,” said de Geus. “Last year I just missed the gold after the Medal Race and now I’ve

managed to do it. I was feeling good in Marseille this week. I was consistent and that was the key for me.” Saskia Sills (GBR) clinched silver the hard way. The British racer looked to stick

close to her nearest rival, Flavia Tartaglini (ITA), in the early part of the race but quickly found herself at the back of the fleet. Tartaglini also struggled at the back of the fleet in

eighth place but Stefania Elfutina separated the Italian and British racer. Silver looked like it was going to the Italian sailor but on the final downwind, Sills pushed hard and overtook

Elfutina just before the finish which handed her silver. Tartaglini settled for bronze. Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Frascari (ITA) had a 16-point cushion over their nearest rivals John

Gimson and Anna Burnet (GBR) before the Nacra 17 Medal Race. The Italians covered the British team to ensure there would be no surprises on the water and both teams raced in the middle of

the pack. Meanwhile, at the front of the fleet, Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) pushed ahead with Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (ITA) hot on their heels. As Bissaro and

Frascari kept the British pair in the middle of the pack, Tita and Banti had an opportunity to move up into silver medal position. All they needed to do was push ahead of the Argentineans

and win the race. They worked hard but could not quite manage it, settling for second in the race and with it, bronze. Bissaro and Frascari finished fifth to claim gold and were followed by

the British pair who took silver. “It was a super week for us,” said Bissaro. “We loved the harsh conditions. We’d been waiting for that type of conditions all year. Today was quite

different. We had to keep control of John and Anna from Great Britain. We did a super job at the start and kept them behind us and we did that through to the finish.” As fleet racing

concluded yesterday, Spain’s Federico and Arturo Alonso managed to wrap up gold in the 49er as they held an unassailable lead. Sailing with the pressure off in the Medal Race, they clinched

a second to confirm their dominance. There was no change behind them as Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl (AUT) and Switzerland’s Sebastien Schneither and Lucien Cujean (SUI) completed the

podium. Julie Bossard and Aude Compan claimed the 49erFX gold in style, winning the final race to conclude an exceptional week of racing. “We’ve worked all winter very hard,” said the pair

immediately after racing. “We managed to keep it simple this week so we are happy to see the work of our winter has paid off.” Poland’s Aleksandra Melzacka and Kinga Loboda were penalized

ahead of racing for leaving the pitlane too early but that made no difference as they picked up silver. There was a close fight for bronze between Austrian and Italian teams. Two points

separated Laura Schöfegger and Anna Boustani (AUT) and Carlotta Omari and Matilda Distefano (ITA). In a straight shootout, the Austrians finished second, a place ahead of the Italians to win

bronze. Fleet racing concluded in the remaining fleets ahead of their Medal Races on Sunday, June 9. Australia’s Mat Belcher and Will Ryan have all but confirmed gold in the Men’s 470. The

Australians are 20-points clear of Jordi Xammar and Nicolás Rodriguez (ESP). Only a penalty during Sunday’s Medal Race could see them lose the gold medal and that is also dependent on the

Spaniards winning the race. Xammar and Rodriguez have an 11-point advantage over the third placed Hippolyte Machetti and Sidoine Dantes (FRA). However the French are just three points clear

of Sweden’s Anton Dalhlberg and Fredrik Bergström and may be more concerned with defending their podium spot than attacking the Spaniards. The race for gold in the Women’s 470 will go down

to the wire in Sunday’s Medal Race. After two final fleet races, Just one point separate Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) and Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz (FRA) and they have

enough points over the rest of the fleet that whoever finishes ahead of the other on Sunday will win gold. The Finn fleet completed three races on Saturday. Andy Maloney (NZL) maintained his

consistency and will take an eight point lead over Josh Junior (NZL) into the Medal Race. In the Laser, Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA) takes a two point lead into the Medal Race but anyone of the

top six can claim gold. It’s a bit more straight forward in the Laser Radial as Viktorija Andrulyte (LTU) holds a 19-point lead going into the Medal Race. Much like Belcher and Ryan in the

Men’s 470, only a scoring penalty can see her lose gold. The race is on for the remaining podium positions as six points separate sailors from second to sixth. Medal Races are scheduled to

start at 12:00 local time tomorrow, Sunday June 9. Event details – Results – YouTube Fleet racing in the 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17, and RS:X fleets will run through to June 7 before they sail

their Medal Races on June 8. The 470s, Laser, Laser Radial, and Finn will conclude fleet racing on June 8 and sail their Medal Races the next day. Medal Races on Saturday and Sunday, June 8

and 9, will be live streamed on World Sailing’s YouTube Channel. RS:X MEN MEDAL RACE | HEMPEL WORLD CUP SERIES FINAL MARSEILLE 2019 [embedded content] RS:X WOMEN MEDAL RACE | HEMPEL WORLD

CUP SERIES FINAL MARSEILLE 2019 [embedded content] NORTH AMERICAN RESULTS: • 470 Men: 8th Stuart McNay/ David Hughes (USA). • 470 Women: 19th Nikole Barnes/ Lara Dallman-Weiss (USA), 18th

Atlantic Brugman/ Nora Brugman (USA). • 49er Men: No entrants. • 49erFX Women: No entrants. • Laser Men: No entrants. • Laser Radial Women: No entrants. • Nacra 17 Mixed: No entrants. • Finn

Men: No entrants. • RS:X Men: 27th Ignacio Berenguer (MEX). • RS:X Women: No entrants. • Kiteboarding Open: 12th Daniela Moroz (USA), 13th Kirstyn O’Brien (USA), 19th Brad Funk (USA). NORTH

AMERICAN ENTRIES (CANADA, MEXICO, AND USA): • 470 Men: Stuart McNay/ David Hughes (USA). • 470 Women: Nikole Barnes/ Lara Dallman-Weiss (USA), Atlantic Brugman/ Nora Brugman (USA). • 49er

Men: No entrants. • 49erFX Women: No entrants. • Laser Men: No entrants. • Laser Radial Women: No entrants. • Nacra 17 Mixed: No entrants. • Finn Men: No entrants. • RS:X Men: Ignacio

Berenguer (MEX). • RS:X Women: No entrants. • Kiteboarding Open: Daniela Moroz (USA), Kirstyn O’Brien (USA), Brad Funk (USA). ------------------------- The World Cup Series is an annual

circuit of Olympic sailing for elite and professional sailors, and a key touchpoint for fans and media to connect to the sport of sailing and develop support for athletes on their road to

Tokyo 2020 Olympics and beyond. Over 2,000 of the world’s leading sailors, representing 75 nations, have competed in the World Cup Series since its inception in 2008. 2018-19 WORLD CUP

SERIES Enoshima Round: 9-16 September 2018 Miami Round: 27 January-3 February 2019 Genoa Round: 15-21 April 2019 Marseille Final: 2-9 June 2019 _Source: World Sailing_