49er European Championship at Porto - Day 2
by International 49er Class 8 Jul 2015 22:59 BST
7-12 July 2015
Bigger breeze and two-metre Atlantic swell delivered some challenging conditions for the 49er European Championships in Porto. Boats were leaping off waves with clear daylight showing between hull and water. Avoiding the dreaded pitchpole was one of the big goals on the downwind legs.
The men's 49er racing started a day later, so it's the end of day 2 of qualifying. Extending their overall lead are Portugal's Jorge Lima and José Costa who racked up solid scores of 7,2,2 in their qualifying fleet. They have moved to 3 points in front of the Poles, Lukasz Przybytek and Pawel Kolodzinski, who now have the 2012 Olympic Champions breathing down their necks.
A video shows Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen leaping off a wave just before they round the windward mark.
These are the kind of conditions the Aussies love, although best scores of the day go to the boat just behind them, the 2008 Olympic Champions from Denmark. Jonas Warrer and Anders Thomsen scored 2,1,2, placing the Danes within striking distance of the podium.
Thursday sees the end of qualifying for the 49er men. With a forecast of softer breeze, it will be a different challenge from today's brutal contest.
The 49er class is sponsored by Seiko and Magic Marine. SAP is Official Analytics Partner of the class.
For all the event details, highlights, interviews, results, photos, tracking and more, head to 49er.org/event/2015-european-championship