2025 Star Class European Championship in Viareggio - Day 2
by ISCYRA 12 Jun 2025 10:44 PDT
9-14 June 2025
Day two of the 2025 Star Class European Championship delivered another round of high-stakes, high-skill racing on the waters off Viareggio, with two more races completed in conditions very similar to the opening day.
Races 3 and 4 of the series were both preceded by general recalls and ultimately started under black flag, a reflection of the competitive intensity on the start line. Race 3 saw two teams disqualified under the black flag rule, while Race 4 claimed five.
The highlight of the day for local fans came in Race 3, with a brilliant win by Giampiero Poggi and Davide Mugnaini, sailing under the burgee of Club Nautico Versilia. The Viareggio-based team took full advantage of their local knowledge and sharp tactical sailing to claim their first bullet of the series.
Race 4 belonged to Australia's Paul McKenzie and Florian Faucheaux, who backed up their win with a third-place finish in the earlier race, making them the best performers of the day. Their consistent performance has vaulted them into contention going into the final stretch of the regatta.
"We had a great day, we had the feeling it might be good, but you never know. Yesterday we felt like we were getting better because we haven't sailed for a while in the Star and today we just had nice starts and made the boat go and it worked out. Yesterday we felt like we were getting a bit better because the starts weren't good, but we were coming through and learning things or remembering things and today with the good starts it made the difference", commented Paul McKenzie.
At the top of the provisional leaderboard, Italy's Enrico Chieffi and Nando Colaninno (ITA) remain in first overall after posting a solid 2nd and 4th today. Just behind them are Olympic silver medalist Tonci Stipanovic and crew Tudor Bilic (CRO), who secured a tight second-place finish in Race 4. Moving into third overall are Portugal's Renato Conde and Taavi Taverner, showing impressive form at this stage of the championship.
With two races scheduled for Friday and the final race set for Saturday, and the discard coming in after five races, the battle for the European title is still wide open.
The Championship is hosted by Club Nautico Versilia and Società Velica Viareggina, under the authority of ISCYRA, FIV, and CONI, with the support of the Municipality of Viareggio and title sponsors G&B Ropes, Slam Telemar, and CTN.
Full results and photo gallery at euro.starchampionships.org