WASZPs at the Campione Univela Easter Regatta
by Marc Ablett 22 Apr 2019 23:20 PDT
19-21 April 2019
What a fantastic Easter it was to kick off what will be a monumental 2019 European season! 22 WASZPs competed in the season opener at Univela Campione, the WASZP was the largest fleet out of the A-class and Moth which is a fantastic achievement in itself.
The event started with a clinic hosted by the best WASZP sailors in the world, current WASZP Games champion Rory Hunter from GBR and Alexander Hogheim from Norway led the way working with the 20+ sailors with everyone showing fantastic improvement across the week.
It was a real festival of sailing at Lake Garda with around 2,000 Optimists and 300 Lasers also sailing events around the Lake. However, on the 'rest day' WASZP introduced a large number of Opti & Laser sailors to the world of foiling. The WASZP is leading the way with opening up the foiling world to youth and grass roots sailors alike.
The 6.9m rig is perfect for young kids coming out of Optimists and the ability to cross train between a WASZP and other traditional youth pathway classes is evident in many countries. However the WASZP is now establishing itself as both a youth pathway class through the 6.9m rig and also a destination class on the 8.2m rig for many sailors who want to embrace the WASZP lifestyle and event circuit that is on offer.
The European season is now well under way with events in the UK, Norway, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Netherlands and Germany starting the European season with a bang and leading into the 2019 European Championships. This event is expecting over 100 boats between the 15-20th July at Fraglia Vela Malcesine, with a huge focus on lifestyle, tight racing and new and exciting formats.