RS Feva European Championships at Lake Lipno, Czech Republic - Day 2
by Samantha Foster 16 May 2016 12:55 BST
13-16 May 2016
RS Feva Europeans at Lake Lipno day 2 © Pavlina Soukupov
Competitors woke this morning to the whistling of wind through the trees and the sign of white caps on the water. This is more like it!
The fleet launched with the aim to get in four races while the wind was good. The Race Committee decided to move the course closer to the club to ensure any of the younger, less experienced sailors could get back to shore easily should they decide the strong winds were too much for them. The fleet got away first time, racing up wind in slightly lighter winds than they had launched in. The CZE boat, Jakub Dobry and Tereza Dobra were back up fighting at the front of the fleet, this time joined by the NED Joris Nankman and Arthur Nankman. It was a closely fought battle between the two but the NED boat managed to keep their cool, winning race 2, with the Czechs not far behind.
Race 3 was the turn of Brit pair, Jessica Jobson and Caitlin Webster. The girls made the most of their boat speed, tacking into clear wind straight of the start and playing the middle of the course. The girls said 'we were very disappointed with our last two races, so we decided we weren't going to take any risks' and it clearly paid off for them, confidently taking the win in race 3!
Coming up to race 4, quite a few boats headed for the beach, the plummeting temperatures of around 5degrees and the increasing winds proving too much. Race 4 itself saw a new pairing join the fight for the top, with Kaarel Paal and Mihkel Paal from Estonia claiming the victory, CZE Jaroslav Cermak and Petr Kostal and GBR Jack Lewis and Lucas Marshall coming in a close 2nd and 3rd.
Race 5 gave us another name to add to the list of race winners so far this event, Jaroslav Cermak and Petr Kostal bettering their 2nd place from the previous race and claiming the win. 2nd place went to the Paal brothers from Estonia and 3rd going to Petr Tupy and Dan Viscor from CZE.
Overall, a rather exciting day here in Cerna v Posumavi, with an incredible amount of inconsistency within the fleet. Not one boat has taken the victory more than once, and with the weather looking unpredictable for tomorrow, it's all to play for!
Full results can be found here.