2025 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 European Championships at Thessaloniki, Greece - Day 1
by 49er & Nacra 17 Sailing 3 Jun 2025 21:18 BST
3- June 2025
2025 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 European Championships Day 1 © Nikos Pantis
Keanu Prettner with Jakob Flachberger (AUT) were locked in a light air duel with defending European Champions Hernan Umpiere with Fernando Diz (URU). The two teams were tipped by their fellow competitors as the ones to watch in light winds and delivered.
2028 is the first time we've been able to focus on Prettner/Flachbaker as they served as the understudies to Bildstein/Hussl for years in the Austrian apprenticeship system. It's their turn to shine now and they have a light air ace up their sleeve. The Austrian system is unique among the many styles of federation support. In each fleet there is team that is focused on primarily, but they must also be mentoring a younger pair at the same time to ensure strong continuity of national effort. Austria has fielded contending 49er teams since 2004 via the 'Nicos' and, more recently Bildstein and Hussl, with Prettner/Flachbaker now the lead pair.
In very challenging conditions with wind speeds varying and quite big shifts, they sailed consistently in their 27-boat split-fleet to score three top 5 finishes, setting themselves up wonderfully for what is expected to be a light air battle all week.
"It was really hard to see the pressure changes coming, as the brightness on the azure water sparkles everywhere," said Robert Dickson (IRL). Their coach and class president, Matt McGovern tipped both the Austrians and Uruguayans as pairs to watch for ahead of racing. "They both are class in light air and have been sailing well," said Matt.
"Lots of teams were going fast today, and it was easy to miss shifts or puffs." All together just great racing and lots of fun to be out with the fleet," said Diz (URU), who sit in second overall, and are seeking to defend their 2024 European title.
The 54-boat 49er field was split into two fleets and started off the regatta. Racing was delayed as the race committee waited for the sea breeze to fill, which it did around 2:30 in the afternoon. Following the 49er racing the FX and Nacra 17 headed to the water to race into the twilight.
Pressure Seeking
Gigi Ugolini with Maria Giubilei (ITA) bolted out of the gates in Thessaloniki claiming both race wins to start the regatta. "For sure we were fast, which makes racing easier, but it wasn't easy out there," said Maria. "We started well, but in the second race it was our ability to find the pressure that made the difference. The whole fleet was moving out to the left, but when they started moving back to the middle Gigi said there was tons more pressure farther out, and we went for it. We moved way into the lead and that secured the second race for us."
The 49erFX leaders were also focused on the pressure, but in another way. Alexendra Melzacka with Sandra Jankowiak (POL) won the first race and were sixth in the second race to be tied for the lead after the first day. "We got a lot of practice in light and choppy conditions while preparing for Marseilles, but it's not really our favorite," said Alex. "I felt like I did 3000 squats today! We were moving in and out of the boat to keep flat and keep the pressure in the sails all day long. It was especially difficult on port as the wind was higher earlier and it shifted when we were racing meaning we had to go straight into the waves in a dying breeze on port."
Both fleets attempted their third scheduled race but the Nacra 17 race was abandoned two minutes after the start while the FX race was abandoned in the pre-start as the wind died completely. Both fleets will be first up to race on day 2.
First Race Win
Always a milestone for any team and nation, Israel's 49er team of Tal Saed and Abu Maer won their first ever championship race, and the first championship race with for Israel. It was their teammates who scored the better day, however, as Illy Wureit with Yuval Barnoon are up in ninth place overall. Tough to celebrate a win fully when behind a teammate, the ultimate marker.
Down She Goes
Olympic champion and 49erFX bronze medalist from Paris 2024 survived shipwreck in the South Pacific. Charline Picon (FRA) was sailing with her partner and child off the coast of Tahiti when they collided with an underwater obstacle, likely a shipping container. As the post explains, they calmly prepared their survival gear as water continued to flow into the interior of the vessel. They decided to abandon ship as their large catamaran started listing heavily, prompting them to call for aid and enter their life raft. The emergency teams came to the rescue quickly, and all are thankfully unharmed.
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