Buckingham takes sixth at Laser European Championships Open Event

US Sailing Team Athlete Charlie Buckingham © US Sailing Team

US Sailing Team Athlete Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) will close out his two-month stint in Europe on a high note, thanks to a sixth-place finish at the 2020 Laser Senior European Championships. The event was held in Gdansk, Poland and summoned over 120 sailors in the Men's Laser Standard fleet.

Buckingham sailed a solid week, posting many single-digit finishes to land himself just outside the top ten. Despite struggling slightly to get in a groove, Buckingham is pleased with his performance.

"My goal for racing was to race consistently and at the front of the fleet," he said. "Honestly, I struggled to find a rhythm for most of the week, but is I can finish sixth after feeling that way, I think that's a good thing."

This is the third event Buckingham has sailed since arriving in Europe in late July. Earlier this season, he claimed victory at the 2020 Italian Championships. Just prior to that, he finished fourth at the 2020 Kiel Week Regatta.

Another one of Buckingham's main goals for his time in Europe was to race consistently and take advantage of on the water training to work on his upwind speed. As he heads back to the states he does so feeling fulfilled, "I felt I met every goal I set for this trip so I'm really happy with that."

After three impressive finishes that followed a six month break from international competition, Buckingham has earned a break. As he turns his attention to the next step on his path to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he will first enjoy some time off before evaluating his options to continue training and racing on the water.

"I'm going home tomorrow. I've had a great trip but I'm excited to get home to see friends and family," said Buckingham. "For now, I'll take a break and we have some options in front of us for the end of the year, but have yet to decide as there are a lot of things up in the air with the pandemic."

View the full results from the 2020 Laser Standard European Championships here.