470 European Championship - Sixteen nations set to compete

by Luissa Smith on 28 Jun 2012 Competition at the 2012 470 European Championship is set to get underway on Thursday 28 June 2012 in Largs, Great Britain. Teams from 16 nations are competing, representing a mix of 2012 Olympic teams alongside the younger generation of 470 sailors.

Host venue, Largs Sailing Club in Ayrshire is one of Scotland's racing clubs and a proven Championship venue, with immediate access to some of the best and most scenic racing water in Europe.

With 2012 Olympic qualification now finalized and teams representing their nation at the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition confirmed, the goal at the Europeans can be purely about Championship success. For many, the 2012 470 European Championship will mark their final event before the Olympic Sailing Competition and next week they will head straight back to Weymouth for final preparations.

The Championship will be a 13 race series, including the final Medal Race showdown for the top 10 boats in the 470 Men and 470 Women events.

Local partnerships are also high on the agenda of the Organizing Committee and today 52 children from two local schools attended the Championship’s VIP day. The children met teams, watched the practice race and looked around the venue, giving them a real experience of the sport and what it takes to be a world class athlete.

They were thrilled to have the chance to meet some of the local 470 sailors competing, including David Kohler and Anna Burnett/Flora Stewart, along with Canada’s Olympic representatives Luke Ramsay/Mike Leigh. The visit is part of a pilot scheme in partnership with RYA Scotland (RYAS) to introduce more children to sailing.

The defending 470 European Champions and world number three ranked team, Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic, the favourites to win and no question are the team to beat in Largs. Fresh from a bronze medal at the 2012 470 World Championship, the pair consistently deliver in the pressurised environment of World and European Championships. They have stepped up to the podium at every 470 Worlds since 2009 – with one gold and three bronze medals to their names, and prior to their gold at the 2011 470 European Championship, placed sixth in 2010 and second in 2009.

Noting that some of the other Olympic contenders have chosen to remain in Weymouth training, Fantela explained, 'We committed to compete at the European Championship a long time ago and we like that we are here as it is a major Championship, and we like to compete at this level of Championship before the Olympics.' A break from the intense training at Weymouth is also welcomed, as Fantela continued, 'We are trying to training in the conditions expected at the Olympics, but to stay in Weymouth for two months is not so good. For us it is good to change the places, and this is a big event. Scotland is really nice, the sailing looks great and the landscape is really beautiful.'

Amongst the main challengers to the Croatians are likely to be the world number ten ranked team of Panagiotis Kampouridis/Efstathios Papadopoulos, who were confirmed as the Greek Olympic team after their ninth place finish at the 2012 470 Worlds. They have finished in the top ten at the past three 470 European Championships, and just finished sixth at their last event, Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta.

After the major disappointment of losing Greek selection to Kampouridis/Papadopoulos, Pavlos Kagialis, who won the 2010 470 European Championship, has bounced back although in a slightly different partnership. He is crewing for Antonis Tsimpoukelis, who is usually sailing in the junior 470 fleet. Tsimpoukelis has made the transition to the 470 after great success in the 420 Class, including winning the 2009 420 World Championship. Tsimpoukelis is using the 470 European Championship and experience gained from sailing with Kagialis as part of his training for the 2012 470 Junior European Championship, which takes place in Italy in August.

It will be interesting to see how this combination performs. Kagialis has his own view though, commenting, 'Antonis is special. He is a sailor to watch.'

Other favourites include Germany’s Olympic representatives Ferdinand Gerz/Patrick Follmann, who have just won Kieler Woche, the final event of the 2011/2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit. Carrying a world ranking of number 16, they finished 12th at the recently held 2012 470 World Championships and 16th at last year’s 470 European Championships.

The 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition will mark the second Olympic appearance for Mikhail Sheremetyev/Maxim Sheremetyev from Russia, whose form has been steadily placing them higher at the major events. World ranked at number 23, they recently secured a career best World Championship result of 15th at the 2012 470 Worlds.

There is plenty of young 470 talent ready and waiting to give the more seasoned campaigners a run for their money, including the 2011 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship bronze medal and 2011 420 Junior European Champion winning helm Angus Galloway from Australia. Racing at the 470 Europeans with crew Tim Hannah, the pair are ranked number 99 in the world.

The French pairing of Kevin Peponnet/Julien Lebrun have also made a great impact at junior level, winning the 2011 470 Junior European Championship and placing second at the 2011 470 Junior Worlds. It perhaps helps that Kevin is the nephew of the renowned Thierry Peponnet, who won 470 Olympic bronze in 1984.

The 470 Women fleet is a talent pool of youth teams, who will be racing alongside the 470 Women Olympic selected teams of Croatia’s Enia Nincevic/Romana Zupan and Slovenia’s Tina Mrak/Teja Cerne.

Mrak/Cerne secured their place on the Olympic start line at the Perth 2011 ISAF Worlds and hold a world ranking of number 18, whilst the Olympic aspirations of Nincevic/Zupan were only sealed last month after qualifying at the 2012 470 Worlds in Spain.

Nincevic’s sailing career started early, aged eight years, and her sailing career was certainly established after a fourth place at the 2002 Optimist Europeans. She moved on to the 470 aged 15, and teamed up with Zupan who had a dancing career beckoning, but switched to sailing despite having no previous experience. The team have now been sailing together for seven years and are world ranked number 26.

Great Britain’s Sophie Weguelin/Sophie Ainsworth are sparring partners to the Olympic representatives Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark and the highest world ranked 470 women team competing in Largs. Weguelin shrugged off the focus likely be on them, 'We really just want to enjoy the racing, but it would be good to get a top result. We will be putting into practice what we have learned with Hannah and Sas.'

Weguelin continued, 'The last time I sailed in Largs was at the 2005 RYA Youth Nationals – it’s a great sailing area.'

Amongst the younger stars is Germany’s Annika Bochmann, who is something of a legend in the 470 junior fleets. With her previous crew she won the 2011 470 Junior Worlds and amassed equally impressive results in the 470 Junior Europeans, including a gold medal in 2010 and silver medal in 2011. With her new crew Elisabeth Panuschka she secured a silver medal at the 2012 470 Junior Worlds.

Bochmann teamed up with Elisabeth Panuschka in September 2011, with Panuschka facing the challenge of transferring from helm to crew. The transition had its hurdles as Bochmann explained, 'First of all it was really difficult, as there was a big difference between Elisabeth and my previous crew, but now it is great.'

Panusckha continued, 'I am really lucky to be sailing with such a great helm.'

The pair arrived on Sunday, having driven straight from victory at the ISAF Sailing World Cup event at Kieler Woche in Germany and have so far had two hours out on the water. 'We thought it was going to be like a lake here, but it is not, it is really good. And there is a really nice landscape,' said Bochmann. Their aim is for a top five finish.

New kids on the block and competing at their first major 470 Championship are Ireland’s Diane Kissane/Saskia Tidey. Tidey comes from a Laser Radial background and represented Ireland at the 2009 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships. The team joined forces in September 2011 so they are on a steep learning curve, as Kissane explained, 'As this is our first year in the 470 Class we are really focused on the processes involved in competing at this level of Championship and there isn’t a huge emphasis on results at this stage, but we have a lot of clear goals between us and what we want to achieve for this Championship. The boat is brilliant and there are lots of bits to play with. We have also met loads of really nice people who have been really helpful and friendly because they know we are new.'

Tim Hall, Event Director, is delighted with the teams competing at the 2012 470 European Championship, 'It is great to see so many teams from around the world competing here in Largs. The mix of Olympic representatives and the younger sailors is great and an inspiration all round. I would like to thank our funding partners, as well as all the people from Largs Sailing Club, who have made the Championship possible. We know the teams will enjoy the sailing here, alongside the Scottish hospitality – and perhaps we can introduce them to some Scottish haggis!'

Today the practice race was held, registration and equipment inspections finalized and followed by the Opening Ceremony.

Racing gets underway on Thursday 28 June 2012, with the warning signal for the first race scheduled for 1200 hours. The 470 Men and 470 Women fleets are scheduled to sail twelve races, after which the top 10 boats in each fleet will race the Championship deciding Medal Race on Wednesday 4 July, with the other teams competing a final race.

The 2012 470 World Championship is being hosted at Largs Sailing Club and organized by the Royal Yachting Association with support from a partnership of UK Sport, EventScotland, North Ayrshire Council, the Scottish Sailing Institute, Sport Scotland and the International 470 Class Association.