29er Eurocup at Fraglia Vela Riva - Overall

by Fraglia Vela Riva 28 Oct 2018 06:39 GMT 24-27 October 2018

The 29er Eurocup organized in Riva del Garda by Fraglia Vela Riva closed with a final surprise, which reserved a complicated final day. First strong wind, rain and waves that made the crews wait until the conditions stabilized, then, when the whole fleet has managed to reach the race course, the wind also dropped too much, offering the possibility of competing only one race with very shifty winds.

This final race was bad for the leaders of the provisional classification, the Danish team of Dejn-Toftehone-Fuglbjerg, who with an early start and the consequent disqualification lost the event, going to the consistent Berthet-Francks Penty, the Norwegians, who remained second throughout the event until the last gasp, taking advantage of the error of their opponents, winning the tenth and decisive race and the the event. Third place went to the Finns, Korhonen-Bremer with a third in the final race.

Twenty nations and 131 crews took part, an important figure which confirms the liveliness of the 29er class. Nine nations were in the top ten with only Britain having two crews (in fifth and tenth place). Norway, Denmark, Finland, France, Russia, Hungary, Sweden and Germany completed the list of these leaders overall.

It was definitely a varied 29er Eurocup, with medium-light and medium-strong winds, with a number of races, albeit not as many as planned (10 instead of 14), sufficient to give a fair result. It has been a busy four days for both racers and coaches, and for all those involved in the planning and organisation, by the Fraglia Vela Riva team, the water crews and the FIV Regatta Committee, which has managed the racing.

For all the Fraglia Vela Riva, despite the great effort required to manage a regatta like the 29er Eurocup, it is certainly of great satisfaction to see an event grow that in the early years had a completely different range of participants both in terms of age and technical level. A great season finale, which has certainly not been helped by time in the last two days, but overall it was more than positive due to the presence of the wind, which despite the advanced season did not abandon the race track on Garda Trentino, famous all over the world.

Full results are available here.