420 and 470 Junior European Championships – Final day
by Fraglia Vela Riva on 14 Aug 2017
Final day – 420 and 470 Junior European Championships Elena Giolai/Fraglia Vela Riva
Italian supremacy at the 420 and 470 Junior European Championships in Riva del Garda, organized by Fraglia Vela Riva: Ferrari-Calabrò win the 470 and Sposato-Centrone the 420 under 17. Silver medal for Ferraro-Orlando in the 420 open and bronze to the twins Scodnik in the women 420 under 17.
A great youth sailing week had just ended in Riva del Garda for Fraglia Vela Riva and the 250 teams of the doubles 420 and 470 for the Junior European Championships.
The almost 500 boys and girls participating in the regatta (the number of participants increases year by year breaking a new record in Riva del Garda) have an Olympic dream, and for some of them it has already come true, as for the Italian National Team and for Ferrari-Calabrò in Marina Militare (the Italian Navy Sailing Team), who sailed in Rio at the 2016 Olympic Games.
At present, they are one of the strongest youth teams of the Olympic class 470 (placed sixth at the latest 470 World Championships), and they are gold medallists in Riva del Garda after the neck-to-neck challenge with the French Machetti-Dantès.
The seven-day event put the organization of the event to the test: the secretary office, the buoy team, the voluntary staff, club members, and especially the Jury and Race Committee, that had been busy from six in the morning until late afternoon for four days.
The Championships ended in the best way after any kind of wind conditions with more than 10 total races. On Sunday – the last day, the weather was stable for the first time in the whole week, and that ensured the classical windy standards of Alto Garda Trentino with strong wind from the north in the morning and 14-knots wind in the afternoon. The event gave satisfaction to Italy in many categories.
420
The 420 division sailed 12 races, divided into Open and Under 17 categories. Compared to the upper and Olympic 470, the 420 sailed with stronger and more favourable wind, but they had also to face some demanding technical regattas.
Italy proved once again to be one of the leading countries in the youth double class and every year succeeds in topping the chart, supporting the athletes also for possible new adventures both in Olympic and non-Olympic classes.
420 Open
The Spanish Balaguer-Massanet won with a lead of one race and 37 points on the American Ascencios-Chisari, while the European silver medal went to Ferraro-Orlando (YC Sanremo) wisely monitoring (with 15-14 today) the Greek Athanasopoulos Yogo-Tassios (19-21). The Spanish Reino-Hopkins win the women ranking, follone by the English Morsley-Cropley and Davies-Keers.
420 U17
The successes continue for Demetrio Sposato (CV Crotone) and Gabriele Centrone (CV 3V) who won the 420 Under 17 after their qualification as Italian Optimist team in 2016: in one month they won two European titles, one at the 420 Senior Championships in Greece the other at the Junior Championships in Riva del Garda.
Sposato is positively linked to Garda Trentino and Fraglia Vela Riva, since last year he was silver medallist at the Lake Garda Optimist Meeting (with more than 1.000 sailors). The Spanish Wizner-Amneiro gained second place with a 14-point gap, while the Polish Golebiowski-Szmit follow on third place.
Bad outcome for the Italian Tommaso Cilli (YC Sanremo) and Bruno Mantero (CN Costaguta), who after a difficult start managed to climb the chart race after race, finishing on fourth place only three points from the podium, followed by the Fraglia’s Tommaso Salvetta with his bowman Giovanni Sandrini (SCGarda Salò) with still too much seesawing performances. Among the youngsters of the 420, the Italian twins Carlotta and Camilla Scodnik (YC Italiano) won the bronze, behind the Greek Spanaki-Papadopoulou (gold) and Pappa-Tsamopoulou (silver).
470
Eleven total races (medal race included) for the double Olympic class, with thrilling and suspenseful manoeuvres until the end. Ferrari-Calabrò proved to be once again on top of the International ranking, succeeding in winning the Junior European title. Final redemption for the Italian women: in the medal race Di Salle-Dubbini place first and Marchesini-Fedel placed second.
470 Men
Extraordinary gold for Ferrari- Calabrò (Marina Militare), who broke the trapeze in the final medal race during the second close-hauled. However, they still managed to finish the race and placed eighth. This placement allowed them to win the general ranking with a lead of six points on the French Machetti-Dantès, with whom challenged since the very first day. Thrid place to the Israeli Abu-Rooz.
470 Women
After their third place in medal race, the Greek Bozi-Klonaridou won with a notable lead on the French Lefort-Granier, who are back in the top three thanks to their fourth place in the final race (double score). Great medal race for the Italian Benedetta di Salle and Alessandra Dubbini (Yacht Club Italiano), who won the final regatta and gained a fourth place in the open division.
The other Italian Maria Vittoria Marchesini (SV Barcola e Grignano) and Cecilia Fedel (TPK Sirena) finished second in the medale race and seventh in the final ranking, while the third Italian team composted of Russo Cirillo-Linussi (SVB Grignano) – also qualified in the final, placed tenth.
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