Gaya Datiashvili Finishes Seventh at European Youth Sailing Championship in Greece

The Israeli youth sailing team competed in the European Youth Championship held recently in Thessaloniki, Greece, with notable performances in the ILCA6 class. Gaya Datiashvili from Hapoel Zevulun Akko secured a seventh-place finish among 90 female competitors, continuing her consistent presence among Europe's top youth sailors. She started strong with a win in the first race but faced challenges including a 35th place in the second race and a disqualification in the fourth. Nevertheless, she stabilized her performance, advancing to the gold and silver fleet stages and finishing the finals with top placements, including third and first in the initial final races.

Datiashvili has shown steady progress over the past two years, previously finishing fourth at the European Championship and tenth at the Youth World Championship this year. On the boys' side, Yehav Geva from Hapoel Zevulun Akko achieved the best Israeli result by finishing 11th overall, winning two preliminary races and placing second in the final race. Gal Einav from Hapoel Tel Aviv finished 15th. These results mark significant improvements compared to last year, where top Israeli male sailors placed 35th and 40th.

Coach Nofar Edelman Shmueli praised the team’s high-level skills and noted some disappointment due to inconsistent results and a disqualification that prevented even higher placements. She emphasized the promising development of the young sailors and highlighted their preparations for the upcoming Youth World Championship in mid-August. The competition featured hundreds of sailors facing light to moderate wind conditions, with large fleets of 89 female and 225 male sailors in the ILCA class.

The Israeli team consisted of 12 sailors (10 boys and 2 girls) led by coaches Nofar Edelman Shmueli, Sagie Tripman, and Maor Ben Harush. The sailing federation aims to develop these young athletes for future international events, including the campaign toward the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. Final results for the Israeli team included Gaya Datiashvili (7th) and Rivka Mantel (46th) among the girls, and Yehav Geva (11th), Gal Einav (15th), Noam Lehat (55th), Oded Shaked (65th), Noam Chen (66th), Yeh-Li Lavkovich (71st), Liam Stern (93rd), Ohad Holside (113th), Idan Kortler (124th), and Golan Datiashvili (174th) among the boys.