In the first of two windsurfing Medal Races at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Zofia KLEPACKA (POL) stormed through the pack to win the 2007 Women?s RS:X World Championship title in style. Ricardo SANTOS (BRA) won the Men?s RS:X World Championship title after an incredible finish to the day?s second Medal Race.

After an action-packed first beat, KLEPACKA stormed back through the fleet to win the World title with a Medal Race bullet. Barbara KENDALL (NZL) had at one stage been in a gold medal winning position, but eventually finished in eighth, just holding on to the silver medal. Jessica CRISP (AUS) won her battle with world #1 Marina ALABAU (ESP) to take the bronze.

If the women?s race was exciting, the Men?s RS:X Medal Race was something else. World #1 and eventual World Championship silver medallist Przemyslaw MIARCZYNSKI (POL) called it ?the most incredible race in my life?. It ended with SANTOS crossing the line in seventh place to take his first World Championship title, with MIARCZYNSKI getting silver and Nick DEMPSEY (GBR) the bronze.

The Women's RS:X Medal Race was billed as a battle between youth and experience, with KLEPACKA, just 21 years old, lining up against triple Olympic medallist KENDALL, aged 39, in a battle for the World title. Initially the pendulum swung in favour of experience as KLEPACKA came under early pressure and dropped to the back of the fleet after falling off her board on the first beat, whilst at the front of the race KENDALL lead round the first mark and was in position to win her fifth windsurfing World Championship. But from there KLEPACKA took control, reading the shifty breeze perfectly and flying on the downwinds to sail right through the fleet and lead into the slalom finish. She made no mistake on the technical final section, taking race victory ahead of CRISP.

Although young, her World Championship win comes as no great surprise. She demonstrated her massive potential by winning four consecutive ISAF Youth World titles on the Mistral board from 2001-2004. KLEPACKA has been quick to make the step up to senior success, finishing fourth at last year?s Worlds on Lake Garda and consistently placing amongst the top five this season. Cascais has provided the perfect fit for her and she has excelled in the shifty, moderate to strong breeze.

From being in the race lead and a gold medal winning position, KENDALL found some of the big holes on the course and fell back down the standings, eventually crossing the line in eighth, just enough to hold on to the silver medal.

'The conditions are very, very shifty and very radical out there so anything can happen in a race like this. So you have to be a little bit lucky and a little bit fast and I missed out on the luck,' she said after the race.

Both KENDALL and CRISP represent the experienced-end of the Women?s RS:X fleet and it will be interesting to see how the battle for Beijing pans out between them and the up and coming youngest like KLEPACKA. But for today, youth reigns in Cascais.

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