Under 21 Laser European Championships in Torbole, Italy
by Matt Carter, RYA 22 Jul 2014 11:15 BST
19 July 2014
Two GBR sailors on the podium for the Under 21 Laser European Championships in Torbole © Paul Wyeth / RYA
Lorenzo Chiavarini claimed an emphatic European victory at the 2014 Under 21 Laser European Championships in Torbole, Italy, on Saturday.
The 20-year-old from Argyll, Scotland, concluded the six day regatta counting nine top three finishes across the 12-race series to claim the European title by a 24-point margin over fellow British Sailing Team Podium Potential sailor Jack Wetherell who took silver.
In addition to the gold and silver in the Under 21 fleet, there was further podium success for the British squad with Henry Wetherell sealing the Under 19 title, finishing sixth overall.
"Winning the Europeans this year means a great deal to me. I didn't have a great start to year with breaking my wrist so it is a great achievement as I haven't spent as much time on the water training as I would have liked," explained Chiavarini.
"I would have been pleased with a podium position at the start of the regatta so to win it so convincingly was really amazing for me, especially as in the first race of the finals my mast snapped which then put a lot of pressure on me all the way to the end. To finish on 25 points with Jack in second on 49 points was a fantastic result and a great way to win the title.
"I didn't have very good starts and I always had to catch up through the fleet back into a decent position, however I knew I could rely on my downwind speed. I have trained at this venue on quite a few occasions and really enjoy the downwind sailing – that was definitely the key to my success."
Competing against 156 competitors at the Circolo Vela Torbole, in Lake Garda, Chiavarini revelled in the daily 10-15 knots and confessed his biggest competition was his fellow British Sailing Team teammates.
"Entering the regatta I knew Elliott [Hanson] and Jack [Wetherell] would be tough competition, they are very good in these conditions and have been performing well in training and were always much faster than me up-wind. So I had them as favourites but in sailing everything always goes up and down and I just remained focused and tried to enjoy it as much as possible."
Chiavarini continued: "Our training group throughout the winter is really competitive with a great group of really talented sailors. We are always fully dedicated and always give 100% of our time to everything; on the water and in the gym and I think it's just the high standard we have here in Great Britain.
"Even Nick [Thompson] and Alex [Mills Barton] push the younger guys onto the next level. As one guy gets better the other one follows and we are all making a really good steady progress up to the top of the international men's fleet."
With the 2014 Laser Under 21 World Championships next up for British Sailing Team cohort, Chiavarini hopes his European victory will provide the perfect springboard to success in Douarnenez, France in four weeks' time.
"Last year I finished third U21 which was a rollercoaster of an event. The year before that I won the U19 European title so to get both gold's at U19 and U21 level and to medal three years on the bounce is fantastic.
"Hopefully now I can push on to the World Championships and improve on my fourth place finish from last year and hopefully get a podium finish."
Fellow British Sailing Team squad sailors Michael Beckett finished fourth overall, while after tussling for top spot with Chiavarini all week, Elliott Hanson had a disappointing final day and slipped down the leaderboard to finish 14th.
For news and results from the 2014 Under 21 Laser European Championships visit assolaser.org/index.php/calendario/646-under-21-europeans-2014