Techno 293 European Championships in Torbole - Day 1
by Elena Giolai 11 Apr 2023 21:24 BST
9-15 April 2023
Two hundred and seventy athletes from 16 nations, with Greece, Turkey, Great Britain, Spain and Estonia, and of course Italy, the nations with the most entries.
Organisation has been entrusted to Circolo Surf Torbole, which for several years now has dedicated itself with passion and commitment to youth activities, both on an organisational, educational and sporting level: the club will in fact line up a team of 11 athletes on the starting line, who will certainly try, like many other Italian clubs present, to conquer some podiums.
There will be two regatta courses for five categories, four of which will be under 19 years of age with Under 13, Under 15, Under 17, Under 19 with the Open category for those who want to have fun on the Techno 293 even when they are older. Particularly interesting from a technical point of view, for the continuation of the sporting career, were the under 13 and under 15 age groups, the nursery of international windsurfing and the Italian Sailing Federation as far as we are concerned.
Tuesday 11 April was the first day of official regattas, while Sunday evening saw the opening ceremony with Monday dedicated to the practice race, useful not only for the racers to understand the race course, but also for the entire organisational machine with the Race Committee to be broken in.
The first races: three races with 14-15 knots
The wind from the south of Lake Garda made itself felt immediately, but fortunately a little less than on Monday, a day when it even reached 25 knots in the practice race.
Three races were held with the classic 14-15 knots. In the under-13s the Greek Nikolopoulos placed three firsts; first female was the Turkish Kabasakal, while the first Italian was Simone Trovato, ninth. Also among the under-15 girls, Estonia's Kivistik started off strong with two firsts and a second; she is leading ahead of Circolo Surf Torbole's Gaia Bonezzi (2-1-8). Short ranking in the top three under-15s: Germany's Schleicher (2-2-2) in the lead, followed by the Greeks Ioannou and Giannakopolos, three points behind, in a tie. Among the under-17 girls, Turkey's Güven (3-2-1) is in the lead, ahead of Sardinia's Teresa Medde, first in the debut regatta. Among the males in the same category Spain led with Bruno Tor (1-1-2), followed once again by two Greeks, Vasmanolis and Koutelas. First Italian Riccardo Poledrini, fourth. Poland's Falkiewicz leads the Techno 293 Plus fleet, ahead of Italy's Angelina Medde and Veronica Poledrini. Greece again in the first Plus men's position with Alexandros Kokkinakis; third the Circolo Surf Torbole athlete Marco Guida Di Ronza. Wednesday races from 12:00.
President Armando Bronzetti's comment: "On Sunday evening we officially opened this Techno 293 European Championship, involving the whole town of Torbole, with the parade of the 270 athletes, their coaches and companions; as always it was very nice to see these happy youngsters with their uniforms and flags in the wind. In front of the parade was the band, which made everything more cheerful and exciting, in this first 2023 event organised by the Circolo Surf Torbole: a season that sees us busy at international level with events of the highest level.
"First with the youngsters who are taking part in this Techno 293 European Championship, but in May (from 10 to 14) it will be the turn of the professionals, with the PWA Slalom World Cup, which will return to Torbole after 31 years. A considerable deployment of means and people, as well as for this European Championship that sees 10 Race Judges on two race courses, 18 people on the water for assistance and race support. And last but not least, we will field a team of 11 athletes, hoping to do well on this occasion too!"
For more information visit event website.
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