29er European Championship – Stormy conditions on final day
by Jerelyn Biehl on 21 Jul 2012
29er action - 29er European Championship 2012 Robert Hajduk
29er European Championship 2012 final day of competition got underway in Sopot, Poland today, Friday 20th July. The French had a plan. Even though they began the day with a nine point deficit, they knew they had to win races to win the Europeans. And their plan worked.
Kevin Fischer and Yann Jauvin came out of the gate in the first race and won. With the first part of their plan in place, now was the time to finalize it. The Race Committee intended to complete the series for the Gold fleet which meant four for the final day.
Stormy conditions with rain, sun, no wind, gusty and shifty, oscillating winds threw everything at both the sailors and race management teams on this final day. Fischer and Jauvin didn’t let it deter them. A 5-1 were their next finishes with the Danish girls, Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thursgaad Olsen battling back not wanting to give a meter of space on the water. Going into the last race, the duo were tied.
Both teams later admitted to bad starts and both traded leading each other throughout the race. But the French prevailed on the final leg winning with one point to spare. Nielsen and Olsen are top Female team and third place finishers Marti Llena and Oriol Mahiques of Spain are the top Youth team.
Meanwhile on the Silver course, the French plan was in play here too. Gael Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet also had to pass regatta Silver leader Anders Hylen Klippenberg and Haral Faste (NOR) whom they also won by one point. The Bronze fleet were able to complete two races on the final day with Filip Hansen and Mathias Jespersen (DEN) as the winners.
The majority of the teams have packed and are headed to Travermuende, Germany where racing for the 29er Worlds begins Monday.
29er European Championship website
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