Volvo 29er European Championship at the Royal Danish Yacht Club - Day 2
by 29er Class & Royal Danish Yacht Club 1 Jul 2022 23:16 PDT
27 June - 5 July 2022
Rain showers in the southern part of Øresund played tricks with the wind on the two course areas outside Rungsted harbour.
The wind both changed direction and went up and down in strength meaning the sailors had to be patient while waiting for stable winds. Fortunately, the race management persevered and completed 3 races on both courses despite the challenging conditions.
The Dehn-Toftehøj brothers still in the lead
Jens-Christian and Jens-Philip Dehn-Toftehøj from the RDYC were, unlike the wind, consistent with a series of 3, 3, 3, meaning they hold the lead into Day 3. In second place we have Jamie Wilkinson and Jamie Gatehouse from Great Britain and in third spot are the Frenchmen, Sam Chambet and Bastian Couty.
The best placed female team from Real Club Nautico de Palma on Mallorca, Martina Lodos Falcón and Martina Díaz-Salguero are currently in 9th place after 6 races.
In the 29er class, prizes are also awarded to the best u17-team. Here, the two 16-year-old sailors Tom Goron and Mael Clochard from France are in the lead, currently on an overall 7th place.
Shoutout for the young
The 29er Europeans' youngest participant is the 13 years old Polish sailor, Józef Krasowski. He switched from the Optimist dinghy one year ago. "I was starting to get too tall for the Optimist, and I'm still young, so I thought it would be cool to get started with the 29er, so I can hopefully become good at it." The 29er seems to be the right class for the youngest sailor in the field: “I like the boat because it is fast, but I am challenged with some things - for example the balance. I think it's cool to be two in the boat. Before, it was just me and the boat, now it's a cool dimension to be two,” says the young helmsman, who currently is in 158th spot.
Another young sailor is 14-year-old Alex Brestovsky onboard one of the Slovakian crews. "The best thing about sailing 29er, is that it is fast and fun." When it comes to 'team work makes the dream work', the young helmsman nails the strength of a strong partnership: “My stress level is quickly going up. Then it is good to sail with someone, who makes the total stress level in the boat go down again", says Alex, referring to his crew, Ján Zimani, 16 years-old. To the question of whether they always remember to communicate before maneuvers, the team laugh and admit, that Ján sometimes is in a hurry in the trapeze, if the communication slips.
Find more information, including full results, on the event website here.