ISCYRA Eastern Hemisphere Championship at Yacht Club Adriaco
by ISCYRA Press 1 May 2018 10:05 PDT
2-5 May 2018
ISCYRA Eastern Hemisphere Championship © Alberto Lucchi / YCA
68 international teams from 16 Nations are gathering in Trieste to attend the 2018 ISCYRA Eastern Hemisphere Championship, hosted by Yacht Club Adriaco from tomorrow, May 2nd, to Saturday May 5th, with a total number of seven races.
After the prelude, Coppa Tito Nordio, held during the weekend in the Gulf of Trieste and won by ISCYRA President Hubert Merkleback and Markus Koy (GER), everything is ready to kick off the Championship with the official opening ceremony tonight.
The regatta will feature high-level competitors, starting with the number one skipper in the Star Sailors League Ranking, Diego Negri (ITA), sailing with Sergio Lambertenghi, a couple of months after winning the prestigious Bacardi Cup together, they will surely battle it out for the title. Among the favourites the 2016 World Champions Augie Diaz (USA) with Brazilian bowman Bruno Prada - four times world champion with a silver and a bronze Olympic medals around his neck. Another favourite for the title is USA's Jack Jennings with Germany's Frithjof Kleen - 2014 World Champion in Malcesine and winner of Star Sailors League finals last December in Nassau, Bahamas.
The German fleet is headed by Hubert Merkelbach, who finished third at the 2016 Eastern Hemisphere Championship in Split.
Another Gold star on the mainsail among the fleet will belong to Roberto Benamati (ITA), a Star class veteran, competing in Trieste with just one goal.
Although he is not a Star class specialist, Slovenia's Vasilij Zbogar stands among the possible candidates to victory. He has an excellent sailing career boasting three Olympic medals, two silver medals and a bronze conquered at the last three Olympic Games in Laser and Finn, and has already proved himself at ease on a Star boat when in Nassau, in December 2016, for the SSL Finals.
Many local sailors have signed up for the event: the list includes the host skipper, President of Yacht Club Adriaco, Guglielmo Danelon, Michele Paoletti - professional sailors onboard Mascalzone Latino for the XXXII America's Cup - who took some time off his schedule just to be at the helm of a Star in this occasion - to fight, among the others, against his father Diego.
Official event website: 2018ehc.starchampionships.org
ISCYRA official website: starclass.org
ISCYRA Facebook: www.facebook.com/ISCYRA