J/24 European Championship at Lake Balaton, Hungary - Day 3
by Júlia Dávid 30 Sep 2017 10:47 BST
27 September - 1 October 2017
Teams sailed 4 races on Friday at the 2017 J24 European Championship, having now accomplished eight races in total. Friday was a busy day, not only in race numbers but also in the number of protests, so the international jury were kept busy as well.
Farkas Litkey (Pelle Nera) took over the lead though tied on points with second Keith Whittemore (Furio), while Balazs Tomai (Jenesis) sits at third after Rauschenberger Miklos (Jukebox) was disqualified from race 8 by the technical committee for faulty sailing. The top league have reorganised, competition is tight, spots on the podium are still up for grabs.
The day started out with shore postponement. After a short wait, the fleet headed out to the course area. The fleet sailed Race5 in 6-8-knot easterly winds. Leading Miklos Rauschenberger (Jukebox) won Race 5, followed by Frank Schönfeldt (Henk), Greek Anthimos Nikolaidis (Evniki) finished third though due to being over the line early they earned a BFD, therefore Peer Kook (Bockdrauf) moved up a notch to third, and Balazs Tomai (Jenesis) could claim fourth. Winds have dropped by Race 6 though it was an even 5-6 knots at the beginning. Winds have dropped further during the race forcing the RC to shortened the length of the 2nd upwind leg. Race 5 finished with 5 Hungarian teams occupying the top 5 league. Order of finish: Farkas Litkey (Pelle Nera), Robert Sarina (Jbond), Balazs Tomai (Jenesis), Robert Bakoczy (FGF Sailing Team), Gabor Sallai (iJroncat). Race 7 was preceded by a lengthy on-water postponement as the Race Committee decided to move the course southwards in hope of more steady winds. The new course was set and Race 7 started in an 8-knot north-easterly.
The Start for Race 7 had to be repeated due to a general recall, 3 teams, including leading Jukebox collected BFD's. The 2nd start for Race7 was clear. Swedish For Fun rounded the upwind mark first, followed by Vitesse and iJroncat. The order somewhat shifted by the downwind mark which was rounded first by FGF Sailing Team, followed by Furio and Evniki. FGF ended up winning race 7 by consistent sailing. Vitesse came in second, Furio third. Greek Evniki finished fourth while Hungarian Jinge fifth. Wind has dropped to 5-6 knots by Race 8 while keeping its direction, so no course change was needed for the last race of the day on Friday. Teams really had to be alert and decide which side to choose that will bring them fresh breezes. Balazs Tomai on Jenesis opted for the left and rounded the 1st upwind mark first beating Vitesse and Pelle Nera. At the end of the first lap, Jörn Harms took over the lead with Vitesse overcoming Balazs Tomai (Jenesis). Vitesse held onto his leading position till finish. Jörn Harm from Vitesse commented on the Regatta as follows: "It is difficult to sail here, as there is relatively little wind and there are lot of wind direction changes and there are no waves. We, from the North of Germany on the Baltic Sea are used to different conditions: mostly to wind and waves where it is somewhat easier to sail. The organization is perfect."
Farkas Litkey (Pelle Nera) finished second, Keith Whittemore (Furio) came in third, Jenesis landed the 4th while FGF Sailing Team nailed the 5th spot. The winner of the day was definitely Farkas Litkey whose consistent sailing paid him with taking the lead in the regatta. Litkey told us after the races: "We sailed 4 races today out of the total 8. Successful 4 races for us. I am satisfied with all races. There are light winds which benefit us as we are fast in light winds. We have enough speed there to stay among or ahead of the best. The Regatta organization is fantastic. It is incredible that there are 48 boats. I'm truly impressed. Shore events are perfect. New videos, edited every night, the day's photos displayed is really unique. I haven't seen this at any other regattas. This is the best organization, I've ever seen."
j24europeans2017.hu