Volvo 29er European Championship at the Royal Danish Yacht Club - Day 4
by 29er Class & Royal Danish Yacht Club 4 Jul 08:57 BST
27 June - 5 July 2022
The first day of the finals races of the Volvo 29er European Championships offered a perfect 15 knots of wind and waves from the South - conditions that the skiff thrives in! The event now enters the second half, with final races plus new wind conditions.
As Yanne Broers on board NED 2810 said: "We qualified in light wind and today it was completely new conditions with big waves and more wind today." The team is in 4th place in the Silver fleet.
The sailing conditions pleased the Spanish sailors Mateo and Simon Codoñer Alemany: "We pushed a lot which was good! It was difficult today because the whole fleet is good, now that we are divided into the final fleets. We had good training in Balis a few months ago, where we had the same wind conditions, so it has been a normal day for us."
New team in the yellow jersey
The New Zealand team with George Lee Rush and Seb Menzies won the day with an impressive series of 1, 1, 2, and they are now in the lead in the European Championship. Tom Goron and Mael Clochard from France managed to improve to a second spot. They are also the best U-17 team. The Danish defending European champions, the brothers Jens-Christian and Jens-Philip Dehn Toftehøj got a little more points in the bank on the fourth day - and are now in an overall 3rd place. Best female crew are the sisters Sara and Isabel Momplet Baixauli from Spain.
Championship with important message
In addition to providing world-class youth sailing, the Royal Danish Yacht Club and the 29er class organization has an important goal at the European Championship, namely to make a sustainable impact.
As a host club, the RDYC has a number of sustainability goals, such as handing out recycled water bottles, water stations at the dinghy ramp, paper-loose notice board and a D POL trash collecting boat, etc. In collaboration with the Danish SailGP team, the Mini Impact League has been formed, which is a competition where the team can score the most sustainability points. To cheer, give some tips and draw attention to the Mini Impact League, Martin Kirketerp, Olympic Gold winner in the 49er, and grinder on the Danish Sail GP team visited the Championship on day 3 and 4. For the remaining two days of the event, several sailors from the Danish Sail GP team will come by Rungsted Harbour to advocate the same.
Impact from within
A Swedish sailor has tried to do a little extra when waiting for wind: 'I try to do small things every day. The Mini Impact League has made me realize, that other people are also into sustainability. When SailGP and the Impact League shared my post and other people see it, I hope they get a little motivated to do something too ", says Elisa Lindskog from Sweden, who has had her own little plastic collection session every day. This has been shared on other channels on Instagram.
The deadline for the Mini Impact League competition is Monday at 12.00, where a jury consisting of representatives from SailGP, SailGP DEN, the RDYC and the 29er Class organisers selects the team that they believe, has had the most impact. The winning team will be rewarded with tickets and a 'behind the scenes' experiences at the ROCKWOOL SailGP Grand Prix in Copenhagen.
Find more information, including full results, on the event website here.