Pavlos Kontides (CYP) is the winner of the 2017 Laser World Championship. He won with a large margin on the second, Tom Burton (AUS), both SSL Finalists. Ten races for the 147 competitors, with a great variety of conditions, from light wind to very strong wind, from wavy to flat water, Split, in Croatia, delivered a beautiful World Championship.
Pavlos Kontides started it great, with three wins in a row, then a third and again a win. He then had a bad couple of races with strong winds, a DNF and a 26th; here he lost the leadership for a bit, to Australian Tom Burton, the most consistent of all in every conditions, and kiwi Sam Meech – who then ended up in 12th due to a difficult finish of the series. Nick Thompson (GBR) is sixth, having the same difficulties as the winner on the windier days. Right after him, the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Bernaz scored a fantastic series with four seconds and two firsts, but there are a couple of heavy results from the Gold fleet days. Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini (GBR) is tenth, showing his talent among the older and more experiences sailors, as he did at the SSL Finals 2015 in Nassau.
Home hero for winning the first Olympic medal in sailing for his Country, Tonci Stipanovic, originally from Split and JK Mornar Yacht Club, wasn’t in his best shape, and though he won two races, his inconsistency kept him on the 29th spot of the ranking. Stipanovic was twice an SSL Finalist, and both times he finished in the top10.
SSL Press Officer since 2015