Close Competition at the RS Feva Europeans

by RS media on 3 Aug 2007 Summer has finally arrived, and the temperature is hotting up for the 70 boats at the RS Feva 3-Mobile European Championships at the Waterford Harbour Sailing Club in Ireland. Going into the final day of racing the gap at the top is down to a single point with Sofia Engstrom / Frida Langenius (SWE) leading, second Guy Stephens / Rory Spriggs (GBR) and third James Hamer / Ben Gratton (GBR).

Day 1

After floating around for most of the first day in shifting wind and loads of tide, the race team finally got the racing under way at about 3.00pm. In blazing sunshine, the first race was won by the Italian boat, Beneli / Pitanti, with the local Cork pair of Harrington / English in 2nd. The Speedy Swedes, Engstrom / Langenius were 3rd. The first GBR boat was Minors / Esse in 4th.

Bolingbroke / Heathcote had a moment of glory with a text-book port-end flier at the start of the second race. While the rest of the fleet stacked up at the committee boat, Bolinbroke / Heathcote vanished up the beat and led at the windward mark by a minute, a lead which they kept until the finish. The consistent Swedish team had a solid 2nd, with the British team of Stephens / Spriggs in 3rd. The Brits have finally turned up!!

With the race officer keen to get a third race, the fleet went straight into the start sequence. Engstrom / Langenius led round the windward mark, and it was only going to be a matter of time before the race was theirs, followed by the SWE/IRL team, Anderasson / Butler, and the Italian tea, Modena / Pagani, in third.

Day 2

With a high sitting right in top of us, it was another perfect day in sunny south-east Ireland. The fleet didn’t launch until 2.30, allowing the sea breeze to kick in and the parents to get a quick 9 holes in at the golf competition. The first race turned into an exciting one, with protests flying everywhere. Stephens / Briggs (GBR) took the lead from the Irish team, Flannigan / Carton, on the last downwind leg to bring them into 2nd place overall. Flannigan / Carton came back with a convincing win in Race 5.

Strong tides and a dying breeze meant that the last race of the day was quite short, and was led most of the way by the eldest helm in the fleet, David Dickson (IRL), before eventually being won by thee regatta leaders, Engstrom / Langenius.

The leading Italians, Marini / Balestrero, got two 3rds but ended up 5th overall after the first discard kicked in. The Sponsor’s Spinnaker was on Luke Finnigan’s boat and seemed to work the magic, as he had a creditable second in the fifth race. In the protest room, the Irish team O’Dowd / Burke were disqualified from Race 4 for a port/starboard incident with the Italian team, Binelli / Pitante. All other issues were resolved without penalties.

Day 3

With a 15 knot breeze, there were smiles in the British camp. This was their day to tighten things up at the front of the fleet.

Race 7 – Hamer/Gratton win with O’Dowd / Burke in 2nd and the Eyres girls in 3rd. For the rest of the fleet, many struggled to stay in the boat in the waves.
With Engstrom / Langenius only managing a 9th.

Race 8 was Stephens / Sprigg’s bullet closed the gap at the top to just two points. The Italian team, Benelli / Pitanti, finished 2nd and there were smiles all round for team Poyner / Tucker, who came 3rd.

The Junior Team of Lowes / Sanders had a 4th, which lifted them to 1st Junior overall.

The GBR National Squad finished off their top day with a 1st (Eyres / Eyres), 2nd (Poyner / Tucker), 3rd (Hamer / Gratton) in Race 9. With Stephens / Striggs in 5th and Engstrom / Langenius in 6th, going into the final day of racing the gap at the top is down to a single point.

RS Feva Seniors - leading posiitons

1 2242 Sofia Engstrom Frida Langenius SG Kullavik KKK SWE 35
2 2381 Guy Stephens Rory Spriggs S Abingdon School GBR 42
3 1655 Simona Benelli Matilde Pitanti SG C N La Spezia ITA 75
4 1837 Matthew O'Dowd Jack Burke S RSGYC IRL 80
5 1753 James Hamer Ben Gratton S Hayling Island SC GBR 81
6 1987 Edoardo Marini Stefano Balestrero S Gdv Lni S. Mgt Lig ITA 81
7 1582 Alex Poyner Holly Tucker SG Emsworth SC GBR 82
8 1765 Jamie Bolingbroke Matt Heathcote S Dabchicks SC GBR 89
9 1650 Jenny Andreasson Jane Butler SG Royal St. George YC IRL 103
10 1965 Richard Harrington Robbie English S RCYC IRL 104
11 1972 Martina Mengoni Elisa Roccatagliata S GDV-LNI S M Ligure ITA 110
12 2116 Scott Flanagan Jamie Carton S Howth YC IRL 111
13 648 Camilla Modena Monica Pagani SG CN Brenzone ITA 117
14 1641 Paul Minors Charlie Esse S Royal Lymington YC GBR 117
15 2000 Natalya Eyre Francesca Eyre SG Thorpe Bay YC GBR 122
16 1954 Ciara Fenton Katie Gambier-Ross SG KYC IRL 122
17 2359 David Dickson Tiarnan Dickson S Lough Ree YC IRL 126
18 1343 Eleonora Corica Jacopo Guagliardo S Y C Citta Di Genova ITA 159
19 1341 Luca Bergia Luca Carlini S Y C Citta Di Genova ITA 163
20 1639 Milly Stephens Cassie Symes SG O'ford SC/Y'mouth SC GBR 168

Juniors

GBR 1226 William Lowes / Kate Sanders
GBR 936 Hugo Jones- Warner / Hugo Tucker
GBR 1868 Tom Adams / Joel Bell

For full results, see www.rsfevaclass.com