29er Eurocup at Fraglia Vela Riva, Lake Garda - Overall
by Elena Giolai 3 Nov 2013 18:18 GMT
31 October - 3 November 2013
Plenty of races at Fraglia Vela Riva for the only Italian leg of the 29er Eurocup. After four days and 14 races Germans Jasper-Lennart Braukmann come in first. Among the women in the final Allan-Masterman of Great Britain stand out.
There were non stop races at Riva del Garda for the final leg of the 29er Eurocup organised by Fraglia Vela Riva with 14 races completed in all types of wind conditions. The leaders remained unchanged from yesterday with victory going to 17 year old Germans Steffens-Braukmann with a 9 point lead over Gillies Munro-Daniel Harris of Great Britain. A splendid third place went to Kelapanda-Thakkar of India competing for the first time on Lake Garda, Trentino. In the women's category Allan-Masterman of GB made a final push to overtake Carla and Marta Munte Carrasco of Spain who suffered the most in the medium-strong winds.
You couldn't have asked for a better way to close the 2013 season at Fraglia Vela Riva. A season in which the Riva club hosted world renowned regattas including The Garda Optimist Meeting (a Guinness World Record for the largest single-class regatta in the world), The World Optimist Championships (with a record number of 60 nations taking part) as well as other top events for various sailing classes for a total of close to 100 days of actual regattas. To bring to a close this sailing season 2013, Fraglia Vela Riva organised the eighth and last leg of the 29er Eurocup, the European tour for youth doubles preparing for the Olympic 49er and Narca 17 mixed catamaran. It was an outstanding conclusion and given that the winds at this time of year aren't as predictable as they are in summer, the maximum number of races were completed for a total of 14 altogether in light winds sustained in the last 2 days of competition (with gusts of up to 20 knots on Sunday).
There was much appreciation for all Fraglia Vela Riva's technical staff on water and land, who together with the regatta committee, put to good use the hours of wind on each day. In the past four years the 29er Eurocup has evolved considerably with a rejuvenated fleet which has grown numerically and technically, so much so that the 20 knot winds on the last day of competition didn't create any problems for the youngsters (13 to 17-18 years) who never once asked for assistance or recovery. Once again, however, Fraglia Vela Riva, organisers of the only Italian leg on this European tour for this 29er juvenile skiff of Australian origin, has seen this class evolve. In the beginning it wasn't so popular least of all with young people but due to a change in direction almost 70 crews from 9 different nations descended on Riva del Garda among them Danes,Norwegians, Britons, Czechs,Swiss, Germans,Slovenians, Italians and the exceptional participation of India with two crews.
The event saw a turning point after the first ten races when the Spanish crew of Bonilla-Chapon, who had initially started off very well, committed a series of errors in the tenth race. The lead was consequently taken over by Munro-Harris of GB (who finished 2nd overall) and then by Steffens-Lennart Braukmann who were able to hold on to the lead right up until the end with a series of steady partials. After a great come back third place was taken by Kelapanda-Thakkar of India. They had risked, however to lose it in the final as only one point separated them from El Khazindar-Batten of GB in fourth place. They were first in the final race.
It was a good and decisive final day for Allan-Masterman of GB, eleventh overall and first of the girls. Just behind them came Munte Carrasco of Spain who had performed much better during the first two days of the event when the winds were much lighter. In third place was the Norwegian crew of Ragna and Maia Agerup.
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