29er Eurocup at Fraglia vela Riva, Lake Garda - Day 1
by Elena Giolai 30 Oct 2015 06:56 GMT
29 October - 1 November 2015
29er Eurocup at Riva del Garda day 1 © Elena Giolai
The 29er Eurocup season closes with over 70 teams coming from no less than 14 nations at Riva del Garda. Italy has 14 teams on the startline in this preparatory class for the Olympic 49er.
The crew of Kraft-Alm from Sweden leads on the first day after two complete races with winds from the north. They are currently lying fourth in the overall standings on the Eurocup 2015 tour. The best of the Italian teams are Zampiccoli-Chistè of neighbouring Arco. They are in twentieth place quite far from the top of the table.
The recent rain on Northern Lake Garda didn't dampen the spirits of the young sailors who have come together for the final event organised by Fraglia Vela Riva in an intense and varied 2015. Northerly winds of 10-12 knots gave the conditions to allow two races to be completed for each of the two groups. After seven races they will qualify for the Gold and Silver fleet and compete in the final seven races. The best crews in this class, which is very popular in Scandinavia, are all vying not only for a place on the podium at Riva del Garda, but also on the entire 2015 tour which has been held over 10 legs in Spain, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden Finland and The Czech Republic, where no races were held due to lack of wind.
Crews representing 8 nations occupy the top ten places guaranteeing an exciting competition at the very highest level with many crews showing their potential as valuable recruits for the Olympic 49er. Sweden's Kraft-Alm took advantage of the light wind on the first day of competition to take two decisive firsts, followed by Dehn-Toftehoej-Langballe of Denmark. In third place came Norwegians Mathisen-Tomas-Mads who are currently fifth in the series standings. Brits Beaumont-Darling took a fifth and a first.
The leaders in the Eurocup standings, Janezic-Podlogar (Slovenia) fought back with a second after an eighth in the first race. They are seventh overall. The local crew of Zampiccoli-Chistè started off well with a sixth but was then followed by an eighteenth. The are lying in twentieth place and are the first of the Italians.
Racing starts on Friday morning with northerly winds likely. Five races are expected to be completed and on Saturday the fleets will be divided into the Gold and Silver groups.
Results can be found here.