29er EuroCup at Fraglia Vela Riva, Lake Garda, Italy - Day 2
by Elena Giolai 1 Nov 2014 20:45 GMT
30 October - 2 November 2014
Neck and neck with 3 races remaining
Strong northerly winds of over 20 knots this morning and the German crew of Farien-Kloesen take over the lead from Slovenians Janezic- Podlogar, who struggled a bit more with the strong wind conditions.
It was a great sight this morning on Lake Garda, Trentino as all the operational staff of Fraglia Vela Riva had everything prepared by 8 o'clock for the start of the first race scheduled at 9. An intense northerly wind with dangerously, steep waves characterised the three races of the morning while the usual light wind from the south kicked in around lunchtime allowing the completion of another race. This brings the total so far to 11 with one day remaining. For the best of the fleet the morning races provided a pure adrenalin rush as they sailed at full speed the fast but often unstable 29er skiff. For the rest, however, it wasn't so easy to keep things under control as gusts at the windward mark sometimes reached 22-24 knots.
The competition itself was also thrilling as the Slovenian leaders of the past two days and of the standings in the general circuit, were overtaken by the German crew of Paul Farien and Mirco Kloesel. They seemed to relish the strong winds and consequently notched up enough partials to put them in the lead. They scored 1-3-3-leaving no doubt of their skill and preparation in racing in high winds. Their Slovenian opponents, on the other hand, scored three 10ths.
This afternoon, with the lighter winds from the south, which at this time of year are quite weak and short-lived, roles were reversed with Janezic-Podlogar taking a third while the Germans, obviously taking it a bit easier, came fourteenth. This was later discarded. So 6 points separate GER 24 from SLO6 and if the conditions tomorrow morning, (racing starts at 8-30), deliver more strong winds then the Germans,of the famous Kieler Yacht Club, could have a strong advantage. But then anything could still happen! Nyborg-Olsen of Denmark made an excellent comeback showing steady form in the high winds. The first of the women's crews is also German with Alicia Stuhlemmer and Safia Schuchmann. They are team-mates of the overall leaders and are in 18th place out of a total 84 crews.
For Fraglia Vela Riva the regatta season 2014 is closing on a high note having organised a series of prestigious international events that started back in March and continued to the beginning of November and as always with a technical organisation of the highest level.
Results can be found here.
More information at www.fragliavelariva.it/en/regatta/1588/view