Lanzarote International Regatta at Marina Rubicon - Day 6
by Lanzarote International Regatta 17 Feb 2022 21:48 PST
12-19 February 2022
After the tough conditions experienced yesterday, the Lanzarote International Regatta gave sailors a respite. The trade winds favoured Brazilians Kahena Kunze and Martine Grael in the women's category (49erFX) and the British Elliot Hanson (ILCA 7).
After extreme conditions of strong winds and big waves, Lanzarote gives a break to the 49er, 49erFX, and ILCA 7 fleets competing in the Lanzarote International Regatta until this Saturday. On this second day, the conditions have favored the 49erFX, who have been able to enjoy three calm races. With only about 5 knots of wind, all boats have been carried away together, although demonstrating that they are able to read the wind, no matter if it is not windy. On this day of gusty winds, the Norwegians stood out from the fleet, taking two wins and a third place.
But it was the Brazilians Kahena Kunze and Martine Grael who take the lead after the disappointment of a UFD yesterday, relegating the Finns Ronja Grönblom and Veera Hokka to third and the Canarian Maria Cantero and Galician Patricia Suarez to seventh. The Brazilian team also won the gold medal in the class in Tokyo 2020, as well as the Lanzarote International Regatta 2021. "This regatta is a new opportunity for us to work on the objectives we have as a team, especially being in the Canary Islands," said Maria Cantero, a local sailor.
Despite the light trade winds and the incredible sunny day, the Lanzarote winds have not wanted to blow in favor of the 49er fleet, who finally have been left without competing. In fact, those who have most enjoyed sailing have been the spectators from Marina Rubicon and from the beaches of the bay of Lanzarote, reaching Papagayo, where they have also tried to race. "The 49erFX and ILCA races were held, even though the wind conditions were not very good, but we stopped with the 49ers, even though the day was incredible," said Bernardo Salom, president of the Canary Islands Lateen Sailing Federation.
For the 49er fleet there was a lot of waiting, but ultimately no racing. "We have been waiting for quite a long time because of the wind, and when they took us out on the water, after two minutes the mast broke, so we had to return to land, change it very quickly and return towed, but, although we arrived in time, there was no competition," explained Canary Islands sailor Andrés Barrio, who, along with the Valencian Antonio Torrado, is part of the Spanish Olympic team. Therefore, the classification continues to be led by the Americans Andrew Mollerus and Ian Macdiarmid, followed by the Germans Maximilian Stingele and Linov Scheel and the Spaniards Diego Botín and Florian Trittel (third place).
According to the Canarian sailor, this year in the Lanzarote International Regatta there is a high level, "right now the Dutch team is here, the last world champions, plus our teammates Diego Botin and Florian Trittel, who are just starting in the class, but have several Olympic Games behind them," said the sailor of the Real Club Nautico de Gran Canaria. His goal is to maintain the level and get into the medal race and do as many races as possible. Another goal shared by his sister, Elena Barrio, who is beginning to follow in his footsteps among the 49erFX.
For the ILCA 7 fleet, there was one race, which the Brit Elliot Hanson took advantage of to grab first place from his teammate Michael Beckett, leaving third place to the Finnish Nooa Laukkanen. From the Spanish team, the Menorcan Joan Cardona has moved back a few places in the overall standings, from seventh to tenth, followed by the Canary Islander Joel Rodriguez.