Manoa Ancet French Funboard Champion Narbonne, Digi Mart USA News (Narbonne, France): Young sailors from the Ile-Rousse nautical club traveled to Narbonne for the French Funboard championships, but they had to wait several days for the weather to clear before racing could begin. Once the tramontane wind dropped, blowing between 20 and 30 knots, conditions were ideal for competition.
A total of 133 starts were run at a rapid pace, allowing organizers to complete at least five elimination brackets per group. In the minimes category, three riders from Ile-Rousse competed in the slalom event, which was run as elimination pools.
The first half of each race advanced to the winners’ final, while the remaining competitors contested the classification places.
Manoa Ancet set the pace throughout, winning every race he entered, sometimes by more than half a boat length. He dominated each race from start to finish and took the French championship title with a clean sweep of all the regattas.
His father Emmanuel, who serves as a referent for the Corsican league, said the result was expected: “Manoa was the favorite, after finishing second last year at these same championships. It is of course a great source of pride; he is building on the work he has done over several seasons.”
Ancet, who has been based at the Marseille Espoirs training center this year, is considered one of the sport’s major young prospects. His father said the next challenge will come soon at Lake Garda in the higher IQ Foil category, where he will face much tougher competition.
“He keeps learning and improving, and we will see how far he can go.” The Olympics may be a longer-term goal in a discipline where French athletes regularly perform well.
Nathan Salducci finished on the podium in the Espoirs division, while Gabriel Commes (14th) and Andrei Olah (16th) also posted strong performances. Neither reached the top five after eliminations in each race, but both appear capable of competing with the best in the near future.
In the women’s Espoirs category, Anna Taddei had a strong chance but was injured in the shoulder shortly before the event, limiting her ability to fully compete. She still finished seventh in a category where more and more women are taking up the sport.
In the Espoirs men’s division, Salducci overcame some mistakes at the starts and built enough speed afterward. Consistent and effective throughout the competition, he won a bronze medal.
In the same category, Gabriel Bredzen placed 10th and Léon Dupre Morati 12th.
In the top category, Fire Race 42, Téva Doriry competed against the French elite. With a particularly strong field, including several competitors who race in world championships, he finished 27th.
Island results by category: Fire Race 120 Espoirs Men (28 participants): 3. Nathan Salducci, 10.
Gabriel Brezden, 12. Léon Dupre Morati.
Fire Race 120 Espoirs Women (16 participants): 7. Anna Taddei.
Fire Race 42 Men (33 participants): 27. Teva Doriry.
RRD 120 Minimes (31 participants): 1. Manoa Ancet, 14.
Gabriel Commes, 16. Andrei Olah.
