2026 470 European Championships Day 5: Friday the 13th turned out lucky for the British

by International 470 Class Association 14 Mar 05:06 AEDT 6-14 March 2026

2026 470 European Championships day 5 © International 470 Class Association

The European Championship final series came to an end today. The top ten teams will compete in tomorrow's medal series races. Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris moved into the overall lead.

Two races were held today in a south-west wind of around 11 knots. Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for the British team, who won both races.

"I think today was quite a lot of pressure for us. Originally, we wanted to try to move up into first place for tomorrow. Now we'll see what happens, but hopefully we can keep doing what we've been doing," said Bettine Harris.

The team of Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris won the first race of the day with a large lead, leaving the rest of the fleet behind. Giacomo Ferrari and Alessandra Dubbini finished in sixth place, while Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona crossed the line in seventh. It was also a strong race for Elena Berta and Giulio Calabrò, which temporarily moved them ahead of the Spanish team and into third place overall.

2026 470 European Championships day 5 - photo © International 470 Class Association

"We struggled a bit upwind. With all the pressure and the intensity of the racing, we just keep pushing. That's the key for us: keep pushing our limits and pumping a lot. It was a very physical day of racing. Jordi is pumping me all the time," said Marta Cardona.

"I think I'm improving a bit. I also want to be as strong as the boys, so that's my objective. We're definitely enjoying being back in racing mode after a long pre-season, and we're really looking forward to tomorrow's race," she added when commenting on today's racing conditions.

In the second race, Wrigley and Harris maintained their strong form. The British sailors won again, moving into first place overall.

"I think we just tried to get off the start line and then be a bit of an animal today and just work really hard. That was kind of it, to be honest. It was quite simple, but super tight; everyone is so close in speed. It was just about getting ahead and then trying to stay there," commented Martin Wrigley.

2026 470 European Championships day 5 - photo © International 470 Class Association

Italian sailors Giacomo Ferrari and Alessandra Dubini dropped to second place, while Spain's Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona held on to third place in the standings.

"It's been great fun and very close racing. We're enjoying it a lot. To be honest, it's some of the best racing we've done, super fun and very close," said Jordi Xammar.

When asked about their strategy for the medal races, Xammar added: "We'll see, but nothing very complicated. We'll try to keep it simple. There are two races, so there are still many points to play for. The goal is just to sail two good races."

Tomorrow the races are scheduled for 12:00, local time.

In the Silver fleet, the winners were the Italians Emma Maltese and Marcello Miliardi. Nitai Hasson and Noga Tiano finished in second place. For this crew, it was a more difficult regatta, as Hasson finished the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in seventh place. Third place went to the Swedish siblings Hedvig and Hugo Liljegren.

Top 10 so far:

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