Hunger & Jess win the 2019 505 Euro Cup in Kiel
by Michael Quirk 26 Jun 2019 05:35 BST
21-25 June 2019
505 European Championship 2019 winners © Michael Quirk
Multiple World Champions Wolfgang Hunger & Holger Jess (GER) have won the 2019 505 Euro Cup Kiel, the third leg of the Euro Cup series.
Sailed as part of Kiel Week, the 2019 'Kieler Woche' will be remembered for blazing sunshine, tight racing and a vibrant atmosphere ashore. Hunger & Jess put on a dominate display of smart racing and good boat speed to win the 4 day, 11 race series with a race to spare.
"It is very nice to see Wolfgang and Holger back on the podium in a major international event." said Class President Michael Quirk. "Wolfgang, who is a legend in his home town of Kiel has won five 5o5 World Championships but has been absent from the podium recently. The 5o5 European Championships are being held in August in Sønderborg (DEN) where I suspect Wolfgang and Holger will be the team to beat based on recent performance".
The other podium places were hard fought and went right down to the final race. Multiple Olympic medallists and current 5o5 European Champions, Jorgen & Jacob Bojsen-Møller (DEN) won the first race of the day with Penny and Russ Clark (GBR) second, drawing level on overall points. Close behind we're Roger Gilbert and Ben McGrane (GBR) for a three way scrap for the silver and bronze positions.
In a close final race, Penny and Russ managed to hold off the Bojsen-Møller brothers to take the second spot with British National Champions close behind in 4th overall.
Overall Results: (top five)
1st - Wolfgang Hunger & Holger Jess (GER)
2nd - Penny & Russ Clark (GBR)
3rd - Jorgen & Jacob Bojsen-Møller (DEN)
4th - Roger Gilbert & Ben McGrane (GBR)
5th - Thomas Gillard & Geoff Edwards (GBR)
Second placed competitor Russ Clark sailing with Olympian wife Penny commented " to stand on the podium next to 5 time 505 World Champions Wolfgang Hunger and Holger Jess and the Olympic gold (and bronze) medallist in the Flying Dutchman Jørgen Bojsen-Møller and his brother is a special experience.
We have had some epic close racing.
This next and final Euro Cup event will be held at Hayling Island in the UK on 6th-8th September 2019.
For Euro Cup Kiel full reports & results, please visit our Kiel event page.
For more information on the 5o5 European Championships visit the event page.
For more details on this event and the other International 505 Regattas visit the 505 International Class website.