Israeli sailors Eyal Voryait of Bnei Herzliya and Yuval Brannon of Hapoel Tel Aviv's maritime club won silver on Wednesday at the World Sailing Cup event in Kiel, Germany, in the 49er class. It was the first international medal for the pair and their first senior-level silver, and they had led much of the qualifying series.
The Kiel regatta was one of the World Cup circuit events, with 90 boats entered in the 49er class this year. Voryait and Brannon reached the medal races in first place after qualifying, carrying 8 penalty points, two ahead of the Swiss team and four ahead of the Americans. The final series used a new format in which the top 10 from qualifying sailed two medal races.
After a tight first medal race, the Israelis slipped to sixth in that race and fell to third overall on 14 points, tied with the Americans, while the Swiss moved into the lead with 13. In the deciding race, only the three medal contenders mattered. The Swiss finished fourth in the race to secure gold, the Israelis placed fifth to clinch silver, and the Americans dropped to seventh for bronze.
Voryait said the event featured “not simple” weather and unstable conditions, but that those circumstances helped the team. He added that medal races require “a lot of experience” and said the two-race format helped them prepare for the European Championships, which start in two weeks near Kiel. Brannon said they “started very well” and improved throughout the event, adding, “In a week and a half we have a chance to fix” last year’s European disappointment, when they finished sixth. Coach Eyal Levin said light winds suited the team and that they will arrive at the Europeans “with a lot of confidence.”
The result comes amid the rapid growth of Israel's 49er program. Tal Shaked and Maor Abo won Israel's first-ever European Championship medal in the class, an bronze in Thessaloniki last year, and also reached a World Cup podium in Portugal. They did not compete in Kiel because Abo has been sidelined by injury and is now returning to fitness in Israel. Another Israeli, Ram Magen, finished 32nd out of 119 in the ILCA7 class.
