fbpx
  • en

Training Partners Step Up

Most of the big names in 49er sailing are taking some well earned time off after Tokyo. As such, now is the time for the Paris potential stars to usurp the aging veterans. Some names we might expect, like Tim Fischer with Fabian Graf (GER), who took the bronze medal at the 2018 worlds, are doing just that. They were modest in their assessment of the day, saying they got lucky with their upwind choices, but it was clear they were able to execute their plans on the downwinds. With the wind bending to left all day, they gybeset to dig into the persistent shift on the runs, and made passes all day long to score a 1, 2, 4 and move into second place on 35 points.

35 points is a popular total, with three more teams each sitting tied for second with the Germans. Mollerus and Macdiarmid (USA), who won the Alexander the Great regatta, are one of those teams aiming at Paris after the USA missed out on Tokyo. Then there are a pair of Tokyo training partners from Austria and Poland followed by another Polish team just one point back.

In seventh are a set of new names to the fleet from Spain, Martin Wizner with Pablo Garcia. The pair are just 20 and 21 and have moved themselves to Santander to train with the Spanish federation out of their sailing center. Sailing hard while attending university is quite a challenge, but well worth the effort. They scored a pair of third places finishes by starting well and hitting the left hard before falling back in the third race with a 14th.

Lukasz and Pawel from Poland continue to lead, as might be expected given their pedigree.

Next Generation Take Two Wins from the British Nacra

Gianfranco Luigi (ITA) is a two time Junior World Champion, and today he took a race from Gimson and Burnet and moved into second place overall. Typically, he sails with Maria Gublei, but she fell injured just before the start of the regatta with a sore back, so in flew Alice Cialfi (ITA) as a substitute crew. As the two have never sailed together, there is much to learn, but it seems at times they are still getting things right and they managed to win the first race of the day.

Also winning the a race was the British pair of Rupert White with Kirtie Unwin. They were in second place up the final beat behind Gimson and Burnet when they tacked on layline. White and Unwin continued beyond the layline, and as the wind was turning left so far they took advantage of a great angle to overtake the silver medal pair, quite an achievement. Overall, they seemed to have a better day on day 2 after scoring a UFD on day one.

However, the Italians and young Brits also managed to tangle with each other in race two, ending up in the protest room for an incident at the windward mark. White end Unwin took the DSQ and end up shuffling all the way down to ninth overall, now with two letter scores.

Gimson and Burnet (GBR) continue to hold strong, winning the third race of the day while taking second in the other two races.

Rupert White and Kirstie Unwin (GBR)

Milestones and Drama on the FX Course

Sailing late into the evening, the 49erFX fleet provided moments to remember and other moments that can’t be forgotten. Two teams scored their first ever European Championship race wins, and two more sailors required medical attention from on water incidents.

The quiet and calm day was jolted from it’s slumber in race two. At the windward mark, Odile Van Aanholt (NED) was helming from the wire during the set, when the boat behind and above was also hoisting did not keep clear. She ended up in their spinnaker as they came down over top of the Dutch boat. Quite suddenly and without precedent, the windward teams retrieval line, the rope that is used to pull back the spinnaker and is dead ended to the spinnaker, got wrapped around her neck. As the windward boat flattened, she was hoisted up in the air and was held upside down about two meters in the air by her neck for a brief moment. The boat capsized, removing the tension, and Odile freed herself in the water. It was a crazy incident for all involved, including the coach fleet that was close at hand, and rushed in to support in case it was necessary.

Odile ended up finishing the race, quite courageously, but was very traumatized both physically and mentally from the incident. Back at shore medical crews checked her status and she ended up heading to hospital for some further checks to ensure she was ok.

Her coach, Kaj Bocker commented, “I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years in sailing, it’s the first time I’ve ever entered a race course to try and help out.” He was on hand to comfort Odile and then filed a successful claim for redress for the pair who now sit in second overall.

Back on the race course, and up to fourth now overall, Mathilde Lovadina with Marine Riou (FRA) started the day with a win. Mathilde has been sailing the FX now for a few years, and has found a new crew in Marine explained, “we won the pin, headed left with good speed, and never looked back.” That was a fairly standard playbook for the day.

Also with their first ever race win at Euros, and moving up in to sixth overall was the Canadian Lewen-Lefrance sisters, Georgia and Antonia. There are only two boats from Canada competing at the championship, and their 49er brother counterparts the Woods bothers, also had a milestone race with a second place finish in the day.

There was a second medical incident during a tiller extension exchange. The Russian team of Victoria Liksanova with Diana Sabirova found themselves needing to change tiller extensions after a failed tack. The crew pulled the old, broken extension off the tiller and ended up sticking the charred end into her helms leg. The sharp carbon strands caused a fairly deep cut and medical crews were needed to remove the splinters.

The Schulteis sisters (MLT) continue to lead after a deep score in the first race, which they drop, and then a second place finish to close the day.

The 49erFX fleet will be first to race on day 3, with four races on schedule to catch up for only doing two on day two. The wind came in a bit later on the day, and the 49erFX fleet were last onto the water, unable to do their third races as the light was fading into the night.

The bulk of the fleet here in Greece are new to Championship level Olympic racing. As such, we’re seeing new stars emerge, new milestones achieved, but also a new set of learning for all involved.

Racing continues through to Sunday where medal races will conclude the 2021 European Championship from Thessaloniki. Scores, video, photos, and stories at: https://49er.org/event/2021-european-championship/

Meanwhile, Saskia Tidey (GBR) came to Greece for the vacation, seen here watching the racing.

Our Partners

Upcoming Events

Allpast
2028upcoming
July 15th - July 20th, Long Beach, CA, USA

2025 World Championship

Event Information
August 3rd - August 7th, Paris, France

2024 Paris Olympics

Event Information
June 26th - June 30th, Kiel, Germany

2024 Kieler Woche

Event Information
May 29th - June 2nd, The Netherlands

2024 Allianz Regatta

Event Information
May 7th - May 12th, La Grande Motte, France

2024 European Championship

Event Information
April 20th - April 27th, Hyeres, France

2024 Hyeres Regatta

Event Information
March 29th - April 6th, Palma, Spain

2024 Princesa Sofia Regatta

Event Information
February 22nd - February 25th, Vilamoura, Portugal

6th Portugal Grand Prix Round 2

Event Information
December 14th - December 17th, Vilamoura, Portugal

6th Portugal Grand Prix Round 1

Event Information
December 10th - December 21st, Chon Buri, THA

2023 Asian Qualifier

Event Information
November 8th - November 13th, Vilamoura, Portugal

2023 European Championship

Event Information
November 1st - November 3rd, Vilamoura, Portugal

Vilamoura Test 2

Event Information
October 20th - November 5th, Santiago, Chile

2023 Pan Am Games

Event Information
September 23rd - October 8th, Hangzhou, China

2023 Asian Games

Event Information
September 14th - September 17th, Vilamoura, Portugal

Vilamoura Test 1

Event Information
August 10th - August 20th, The Hague, Netherlands

2023 World Sailing Championship

Event Information
July 21st - July 28th, Duinbergen, Belgium

2023 Junior World Championship

Event Information
July 7th - July 14th, Marseilles, France

2023 Test Event

Event Information
June 17th - June 21st, Kiel, Germany

2023 Kieler Woche

Event Information
May 31st - June 4th, The Netherlands

2023 Allianz Regatta

Event Information
April 22nd - April 29th, Hyeres, France

2023 Hyeres Regatta

Event Information
March 31st - April 8th, Palma, Spain

2023 Princesa Sofia Regatta

Event Information
February 12th - February 16th, Vilamoura, Portugal

5th Portugal Grand Prix

Event Information
February 9th - February 17th, Lanzarote, Spain

2023 Lanzarote International

Event Information
February 1st - February 5th, Clearwater, Florida, USA

2023 US Open Clearwater

Event Information
December 14th - December 18th, Vilamoura, Portugal

5th Portugal Grand Prix r1

Event Information
October 7th - October 9th, Rye, NY, USA

2022 American High Performance Regatta

Event Information
August 31st - September 5th, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

2022 World Championship

Event Information
August 19th - August 21st, Nova Scotia, Canada

2022 North American's

Event Information
July 31st - August 7th, Lake Como, Italy

2022 Junior World Championship

Event Information
July 27th - August 7th, The Hague, Netherlands

Hague Practice Session

Event Information
July 5th - July 10th, Aarhus, Denmark

2022 European Championship

Event Information
June 22nd - June 26th, Kiel, Germany

2022 Kieler Woche

Event Information
June 4th - June 6th, The Hague, Netherlands

North Sea Race

Event Information
June 1st - June 5th, Almere, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2022 Allianz Regatta

Event Information
May 27th - May 29th, Almere, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2022 Open Dutch Championship

Event Information
April 23rd - April 30th, Hyeres, France

2022 Hyeres Regatta

Event Information
April 1st - April 9th, Palma, Spain

2022 Princesa Sofia Regatta

Event Information
February 19th - February 23rd, Vilamoura, Portugal

4th Portugal Grand Prix Round 2

Event Information
December 13th - December 17th, Vilamoura, Portugal

4th Portugal Grand Prix Round 1

Event Information
November 16th - November 21st, Oman

2021 World Championship

Event Information
November 6th - November 9th, Mussanah, Oman

2021 Asian Championship

Event Information
September 14th - September 19th, Thessaloniki, Greece

2021 European Championship

Event Information
July 23rd - August 8th, Tokyo, Japan

2020 Olympic Games

Event Information
July 5th - July 11th, Gdynia, Poland

2021 Junior World Championship

Event Information
June 2nd - June 6th, Medemblik, Netherlands

2021 Allianz Regatta

Event Information
March 21st - March 26th, Lanzarote, Spain

2021 Lanzarote International

Event Information
March 1st - March 6th, Shanghai / China

2021 Asian Championship

Event Information
September 28th - October 4th, Lake Attersee, Austria

2020 Forward WIP European Championship

Event Information
September 5th - September 13th, Kiel, Germany

2020 Kieler Woche

Event Information
February 9th - February 16th, Geelong, Australia

2020 World Championship

Event Information
January 30th - February 3rd, Geelong, Australia

2020 Oceania Champoinship

Event Information
January 19th - January 26th, Miami, USA

2020 Miami OCR

Event Information
November 29th - December 8th, Auckland, New Zealand

2019 World Championship

Event Information
November 25th - November 27th, Auckland, New Zealand

2019 Oceania Championship

Event Information
November 9th - November 11th, Takapuna / New Zealand

2019 New Zealand Nationals

Event Information
August 25th - September 1st, Enoshima, Japan

2019 Sailing World Series Enoshima

Event Information
August 15th - August 22nd, Enoshima, Japan

READY STEADY TOKYO - Sailing

Event Information
July 26th - August 11th, Lima, Peru

2019 Pan Am Games

Event Information
July 3rd - July 7th, Risor, Norway

2019 Junior World Championship

Event Information
June 26th - June 30th, Kiel, Germany

2019 Kieler Woche

Event Information
May 21st - May 26th, Medemblik, Netherlands

2019 Medemblik Regatta

Event Information
May 13th - May 19th, Weymouth, UK

2019 Volvo European Championship

Event Information
May 4th - May 6th, Weymouth, UK

2019 Warm Up Regatta

Event Information
April 15th - April 20th, Genoa, Italy

2019 Sailing World Series Genoa

Event Information
March 30th - April 6th, Palma, Spain

2019 Princess Sofia Regatta

Event Information
March 15th - March 19th, Dinshan Lake, Shanghai, China

2019 Asian Championship

Event Information
February 14th - February 17th, Vilamoura, Portugal

2019 Portugal Grand Prix

Event Information
January 29th - February 3rd, Miami, Florida

2019 Sailing World Series Miami

Event Information
January 19th - January 21st, Miami, USA

2019 Mid Winter Regatta

Event Information
December 13th - December 16th, Vilamoura, Spain

2018 Vilamoura Grand Prix

Event Information
November 18th - November 24th, Florianopolis, Brazil

2018 South American Championship

Event Information
September 29th - September 30th, Shanghai, China

2018 Shanghai Cup

Event Information
September 21st - September 24th, Enoshima, Japan

2018 Enoshima Race Week

Event Information
September 9th - September 16th, Enoshima, Japan

2018 Enoshima World Cup and Test Event

Event Information
August 28th - September 1st, Marseille, France

2018 U23 Junior World Championship

Event Information
August 5th - August 12th, Aarhus, Denmark

2018 World Sailing Championship

Event Information
July 8th - July 13th, Gdynia, Poland

2018 European Championship

Event Information
June 20th - June 24th, Kiel, Germany

2018 Kieler Woche

Event Information
June 3rd - June 10th, Marseille / France

2018 Sailing World Cup Final

Event Information
May 22nd - May 26th, Medemblik / Netherlands

2018 Medemblik Regatta

Event Information
April 22nd - April 29th, Hyeres, France

2018 Sailing World Series Hyeres

Event Information
March 30th - April 7th, Palma de Majorca, Spain

2018 Princess Sofia Trophy

Event Information
January 21st - January 28th, Miami, USA

2018 World Series Miami

Event Information
January 13th - January 15th, Miami, USA

2018 Mid Winter Regatta

Event Information
October 28th - October 29th, Shanghai, China

2017 Shanghai Cup and Asian Championship

Event Information
September 5th - September 10th, La Grande Motte, France

2017 World Championship

Event Information
August 7th - May 13th, Aarhus, Denmark

Aarhus 2018 Test Event

Event Information
July 30th - August 4th, Kiel, Germany

2017 European Championship

Event Information
June 21st - June 25th, Kiel, Germany

2017 Kieler Woche

Event Information
June 8th - June 11th, Santander, Spain

2017 World Series Final

Event Information
August 12th - August 20th, Rio, Brazil

2016 Olympic Games

Event Information
February 9th - February 14th, Clearwater, Florida, USA

2016 World Championship

Event Information
September 28th - October 3rd, Barcelona, Spain

2015 European Championship

Event Information
July 6th - July 10th, Aarhus, Denmark

2015 World Championship

Event Information
September 10th - September 21st, Santander, Spain

2014 World Sailing Championship

Event Information
July 21st - July 27th, the Hague, Netherlands

2013 World Championship

Event Information
July 21st - August 6th, Los Angeles, USA

2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Event Information