2015 Eurosaf Champions Cup - British sailors going for gold in Garda

by RYA on 7 May 2015 Over 25 British sailors will compete at the Eurosaf Garda Trentino Olympic Week (6-10 May), the second leg of five in the 2015 Eurosaf Champions Cup.

Great Britain picked up seven medals on the first leg of the Eurosaf series at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma in April and will be sending British Sailing Team Podium and Podium Potential sailors this second leg held on Lake Garda, Italy.

Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth return to Italy for the Garda Trentino week for a second time. The 49erFX pair finished 12th at the 2014 event and have recently returned from a tricky week at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres. They will count local Italian pairing Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich, who picked up bronze at the World Cup Hyeres, among their key rivals.

Six British sailors will be competing in the Laser fleet with Nick Thompson, who turns 29 today, leading the charge. Thompson won bronze at the 2014 event and silver at the recent World Cup in Hyeres and will be hoping to step it up one more to claim gold. The standard of the Laser fleet will be high with multiple World Champions competing, including Australia’s Tom Burton and Brazil’s Robert Scheidt. Also competing for Great Britain are British Sailing Team Podium Potential sailors Jack and Henry Wetherell, and Lorenzo Chiavarini.

Two British Sailing Team Podium squad pairings will be racing in the Nacra 17 fleet. John Gimson and Hannah Diamond won silver at the first Eurosaf event in Palma and will be on the medal hunt once again. Lucy Macgregor will be sailing with stand in crew, David Evans, as Andrew Walsh recovers from injury.

The British Sailing Team will also have strong representation in the Paralympic classes. 2012 Paralympic bronze medallists and five-time World Champions Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell will be in attendance in the SKUD class, and they will be joined by new pairing Megan Pascoe and Will Street. Both are experienced 2.4mR challengers, however they teamed up after the selection of Helena Lucas to represent Great Britain at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in the 2.4mR.

Also teaming up for the first time are Mike Wood and Nick Redding in the 470 men’s class. Brothers Rory and Neil Hunter will be the only British representatives in the 49er fleet, at the first Eurosaf leg in Palma the pair finished 42nd amongst tough international competition.

Podium Potential Sonar team Steve Palmer, Craig Wood and Liam Cattermole will also be competing. Hannah Snellgrove and Rhiannon Massey will also be competing in the Laser Radial class.

Racing for the Olympic and Paralympic classes start on the Wednesday 6 May and the medal races will be sailed for all Olympic Class fleets on Sunday 10 May. All medal races will be live streamed onto the event website.

British Sailing Team line-up for the EUROSAF Garda Trentino Olympic Week:

49erFX:
• Charlotte Dobson-Sophie Ainsworth
49er:
• Rory Hunter-Neil Hunter
Laser:
• Nick Thompson; Jack Wetherell; Henry Wetherell; Lorenzo Chiavarini
Nacra 17:
• John Gimson-Hannah Diamond; Lucy Macgregor-David Evans
470 Men:
• Mike Wood-Nick Redding
SKUD 18:
• Alexandra Rickham-Niki Birrell; Will Street-Megan Pascoe Sonar Steve Palmer-Craig Wood-Liam Cattermole