Eurosaf Youth 2015 – Young European sailors are in the starting-blocks

by Youth Eurosaf on 30 Jul 2015 2015 Youth Eurosaf – The Moulin Blanc marina has turned into the sailing capital of Europe today as the remaining nations arrived in Brest in the afternoon to take part in the practice race in which everyone, from competitors to referees to organisers, could find their feet. At 18:00, the Opening Ceremony marked the beginning of this year’s Championship.

Registration closed today with a final number of 166 competitors representing 16 different nations. As expected, the nations with the most competitors are France, the host country, with 42 sailors, Great-Britain with 35 and Italy with 22.

The schedule this week will see up to four races every day for the 420, Laser Radial and 29er classes, and three races, between tomorrow and Saturday evening, for the RSX and SL16 classes.

On Sunday, the top eight in each series will compete in the Medal Race, a single race where points will count double towards the general classification that will decide between the best sailors.

Tomorrow, the first start in each series will be at 11:00. The weather conditions should be more favourable than in the past few days with no rain forecasted and a 10 to 15 knots North-Westerly wind.

Good luck and fair winds!

What was said today:

Arne DEBEUF (BEL) - RSX
'I have come here to gain experience and rub shoulders with the best European sailors. I don't aim at a top result, but I will give it my best shot. The venue is relatively tricky, I realised that last year when I came over for the BIC Techno 293 OD World Championship and it feels the same this year. Beware, the Rade de Brest could be full of traps!'

Inès GMATI (TUN) - Laser radial
'I'm really pleased to represent my country, Tunisia, in this competition. I will try my best to get a good result in honour of all the Tunisian sailors who could not make it to this year's Championship.'

Henry BACCHINI, Vice-President of the Fédération Française de Voile
'I hope this sporting event can be an opportunity for young sailors taking part to discover different cultures, to develop strong friendships and identical values to that of our adult competitors who are extremely lucky to be able to compete in international championships and in the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.
I would like to thank the European Sailing Federation for putting their trust in France to host this European competition; we will do everything that is in our hands to make it a success. I wish all the competitors the best possible result on the water.'

John FRIEND, Secretary General of Eurosaf
'I am really excited to see all the young competitors gathered here, to see all the energy put together by the different structures and institutions in order to host this championship in Brest. The sun is on its way, bringing along the promise of a great competition. I hope all the young sailors will make the most of this week to gain experience and we look forward to welcoming the best ones on the podium on Sunday.'