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Formula 18 European Championship winner decided

by Andres Kling on 12 Dec 2011
Formula 18 European Championships 2011 SW
The Formula 18 European Championship winners have now been decided. Frenchmen Olivier Backes and Arnaud Jarlegan emerged as the unbeatable catamaran champions on Sunday, 11 December. The 2010 world champions snapped up the ‘early’ title for 2012 in a regatta already held this year in Las Palmas on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria, Spain.

They won with one race short but continued scoring another bullet in the final one. This left their compatriots Francois Morvan/Maithien Vandame twelve points behind in second. Local heroes of the host club, famous Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria (RCNGC), Javier Padrón und Miguel Pérez, lost the lead they hold after seven races, but were celebrated as third crew on the podium.

European masters (over 50 years old) Helge and Christian Sach from Germany impressed the young guns with a fifth place overall just one point behind Gurvan Bontemps/ Benjamin Amiot from France, but 27 ahead of the best mixed crew Grant Piggott/Mary Rook from Great Britain on six.

The XIII Canary Olympic Sailing Week saw light easterly winds most of the time with rarely trapeze conditions, but huge Atlantic swell on the race course. 84 crews from thirteen nations, with a dozen former world champions, Olympic medalists and current America’s Cup crew battled it out in ten tight races.

Winners Backes and Jarlegan paid credit to their Phantom F-18 cat: 'The boat goes incredibly well in conditions like this.' Rank two and four went to Cirrus with a Hobie Wild Cat on third and Nacra Infusion taking fifth to seventh overall.

Final results of the Formula 18 Europeans in Las Palmas/Gran Canaria (Spain)

1 Olivier Backes/Arnaud Jarlegan (France) 28 points
2 Francois Morvan/Maithien Vandame (France) 40
3 Javier Padrón/Miguel Pérez (Spain) 51
4 Gurvan Bontemps/Benjamin Amiot (France) 56
5 Helge and Christian Sach (Germany) 57
6 Grant Piggott/Mary Rook (Great Britain) 84
7 Coen de Koning/Thijs Visser (The Netherlands) 87
8 Mitch Booth/Janne Riihela (Spain/Finland) 90

Real Club Nautico de Gran Canaria website
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