British one-two as Chiavarini crowned new Laser European champion
by British Sailing Team Media 26 May 2019 00:04 PDT
Laser European Championship 2019 © Joao Ferrand
British sailor Lorenzo Chiavarini claimed his maiden senior major title finishing top of the European Laser Championships in Porto, Portugal.
Chiavarini was also joined on the podium by two-time world champion, Olympian and team-mate Nick Thompson who claimed silver ahead of Germany's Philip Buhl in third.
"Fantastic! Over the moon! I still don't think it has fully sunk in," said Chiavarini, 25, from Bellanoch Bay, Argyll.
"For me it was about taking the week one race at the time with most of the concentration on my starts and the first beat.
"I had great speed around the course in all wind conditions which I was very pleased about. There was a lot of pressure on me as all the competitors were sailing well - most of them my team mates."
One of those sailing well was compatriot Thompson who closed out the competition with two fourth place race finishes, enough to move him up in to the silver medal spot.
Thompson, 33, from Lymington, said: "I'm happy with the weeks sailing. An OCS* on a race win cost me big in the end, but I'm happy with how I fought back.
"I'm so stoked to see my team-mate Lorenzo wrap up his first major event win, doing so in style."
The British Sailing Team showed great strength in depth with four sailors in the top ten for the majority of the week with 2018 European silver medallist Michael Beckett eventually finishing fifth and Elliot Hanson in sixth.
In the Laser Radial Ali Young just missed out on a medal finishing in fourth, but the Rio 2016 Olympian has vowed to come back stronger.
"It's been a tough week and I have made a few too many mistakes," said Young, 31, from Wolverhampton. "If I had spent less time playing tug-of-war with my mind I may have executed some things better.
"Fourth is not winning but it is an exciting platform to build off."
Full results can be found here.