Laser and Laser Radial Europeans – Barcelona beckons for contenders

by Anisha Walkerley / RYA on 28 Sep 2017 The British Sailing Team will be in further major event action next week when the Laser and Laser Radial European Championships kick off in Barcelona (3-8 October).

Eleven National Lottery-funded sailors will contest the six day regatta across the men’s and women’s Olympic single-handed disciplines, at the venue which is celebrating the 25th anniversary of hosting the 1992 Olympic sailing competition.

Nick Thompson will lead out a seven-strong British Sailing Team Laser contingent off the back of a strong British squad performance at the World Championship earlier this month in Split.

The Rio Olympian and two-time World Champion Thompson finished in sixth place in Croatia, with Lorenzo Chiavarini in 10th and Elliot Hanson in 11th, and Michael Beckett finishing 20th.

Jack Wetherell and u21 talents will also look to be counted in the 130-sailor fleet, which includes newly-crowned World Champion Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus as well as Australian silver and bronze medallists Tom Burton and Matt Wearn, who are among the international entrants for the Open European title.

In the women’s Laser Radial event, double Olympian Alison Young will look for improvements after a disappointing World Championship challenge on Dutch waters in August, while Georgina Povall will also hope to see continued progress since turning full time this summer after concluding her university studies. She was the top-placed British sailor at the Worlds, finishing 23rd.

Young British Sailing Team talents Ellie Cumpsty and Clementine Thompson will also join them in the 96-boat women’s line-up where the likes of Dutch World Champion Marit Bouwmeester and Belgian silver medallist Evi Van Acker will hope to underline their World Championship success with a strong Europeans challenge.

Racing at the Laser and Laser Radial European Championships gets underway on Tuesday 3 October, with two races for each fleet scheduled per day up to and including Sunday 8 October.