Another fantastic day for Croatian sport on Saturday 17 October 2015. In a very tight final race of this year’s World Sailing Championship in Haifa, Croatian representatives Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić won silver medal, proving once again that Croatia is indeed a great sailing nation. With only a point between them and the Australian team Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, it was clear from the very start of the race that even the slightest mistake would mean the difference between first and second place.
Australians hurtled off the start line, took the lead at the very first mark with the Croatian duo right behind them, however heading back-wind Spanish team took the lead pushing the Australian and Croatian team to 4th and 5th place which was in the end enough for Aussies to take the gold.
Former Optimist World Champion Šime Fantela is no stranger to the winning podiums. In the 11 World Championships he’s competed in with his teammate Igor Marenic he’s won the 470 World title in 2009, three bronze and one silver medal and now this 2015 medal marks their second silver in the trophy cabinet: “It is something that we are really proud of,” acknowledged Fantela. “Somehow at the Worlds we always do really well, we are always focused and always on form. This year and last we got second behind the Australians, and this year was really, really close. So it means we are in a good way, and hopefully come Rio we will do the same stuff.”
Talking through the race, Fantela added, “It was really tense and I really enjoyed it. Sailing is all about the Medal Race now. We were close, so who finished first would win, but also Russia and the Swedish had theoretical chances. We stayed calm until the start, and then the Australians attacked and we defended. They were ahead, but we caught on the downwind, and in the second upwind we made a good tactical decision to tack left. But then we made a mistake when they tacked and we didn’t stay close to them, and that was when we lost our chance for the title. These are usually our toughest conditions, so I am really happy we managed to pull it off.”
“This means a lot but we are trying not to put any pressure on,” continued Marenic. “We just try to sail every regatta like it is a Worlds or an Olympics, so we are 100% in every regatta and that is how we sail. So we will do the same next year at the Worlds, Europeans and of course the Olympics.”
