Laser 4000 Europeans at Riva del Garda, Lake Garda, Italy

The fine conditions on Lake Garda for the Laser 4000 Europeans © Ian Jubb / www.sailboatdeliveries.com

The fine conditions on Lake Garda for the Laser 4000 Europeans © Ian Jubb / www.sailboatdeliveries.com

So much has been written about Lake Garda, famous for those lazy mornings in the sunshine awaiting the regular afternoon big breeze, heading into the cliffs every lap and exhilarating racing. For the fifty boats in Laser 4000 Europeans this year it wasn’t quite like that. The 2 days before the racing were windy but not exactly classic Garda, the day after the racing was predictably perfect, but for the 4 race days the wind was - well just like any other sailing venue, sometimes windy, sometimes light, sometimes predictable, sometimes less so. Disappointing? How can it be? This is a fabulous venue with so much beauty and charm, fantastic weather and Italian Culture that it was still a great event. And for good measure probably a better test of all round sailing skill than “proper” Garda conditions.

Winners this year were John Wilson and James Barker. Having taken time out last year from their full time 49er campaign to come for a “holiday” at the 4000 Europeans in France they decided that racing the 4000 was so good they would do the same again this year and try to better their 5th overall. This time they looked confident and determined from the outset and won all 3 races on an opening day that was sailed in an unpredictable but fresh southerly breeze. After some heavy rain the next morning the skies cleared and the 2nd days racing was sailed in a moderate northerly breeze. This helped to make them look slightly less invincible as they scored an ocs,13,1. Thereafter they scored a 1,5,1,3 on the final 2 days to be convincing and very worthy winners. They didn’t necessarily have stunning pace but they were always in there at the first mark and were always working hard at pressuring the boats in front which often led to them gaining places right at the end of races.

The only real challenge to Wilson & Barker came from the Scottish team of Craig Hepplewhite & Colin Greer. They sailed a very consistent series and were leading going into the final day until the final discard kicked in. Their strength lay in always seeming to be coming well out of the starts and going the right way in what were often unpredictable conditions. They never had to come up through the fleet simply because they were always up there in the first place.

The final podium place was taken by Tom Glanfield and Nick Alp. Tom finally managed to concentrate long enough to put his talent to good use and survived not only a broken mast but also Tom’s excessive partying to put together an excellent series.

Hugh Watson & Susanna Bickford spent most of the event pulling back through the fleet after poor starts and first beats eventually doing just enough to beat defending champion Andy Palmer-Felgate & Jon Modral who started the event well and were leading after 5 races but a night at the opera in Verona for Andy turned into some tragic results the next day and a sequence of 21,9,24 dropped them back down the order.

With 20 Italian boats entered their fleet is expanding and improving, they won a race and had 3 boats in the top10. So often European events are simply “brits on tour” so the presence of a strong Italian fleet really helped to make the event. Big Garda breeze or not this was an excellent event for the class with many highlights; The partying which got later and more rowdy by the night, The sight of the Italian celebrations after beating Australia in the world cup had to be seen to be believed. Most of all though, the fun and spirit which accompanies the class and its members made this event unforgettable, and next years event in Sardinia unmissable.

Overall Results: