470 and 420 Junior European Championship at Nida, Lithuania - Day 1
by International 470 Class Association 22 Jul 19:05 BST
22-27 July 2026
Racing at the 470 & 420 Junior European Championship got under way on schedule in Nida, with the first warning signal at 12:00.
Sailors were welcomed by a light breeze of around 8 knots, but the wind slowly faded throughout the race, creating increasingly challenging conditions. Italians - Livia Ciampinelli and Nicola Brunotti leading the Junior European Championships.
"It was a very long day with very different conditions. We began the day with very light wind that dropped completely and I think we found our space because we managed to recover our performance and we won the race. Then we had to wait like an hour for the wind to fill in and we made a second race with medium wind but always making stronger and it was not our best performance but we managed to cancel the errors to focus only on our strength and we won the last race so we are happy about it", commend Livia Ciampinelli.
Germany's Amelie Wehrle and Riccardo Honold (GER 49) led for most of the race, locked in a close battle with Ukraine's Sviatoslav Madonich and Yelyzaveta Vasylenko (UKR 13). By the end of the second lap, the leading five boats were separated by only a small margin, setting up an exciting finish.
A major wind shift on the final downwind leg reshuffled the order, allowing two Italian crews to go to the front. Livia Ciampinelli and Nicola Brunotti (ITA 4) crossed the finish line first, ahead of teammates Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio (ITA 7), to claim victory in the opening race of the 470 Junior European Championship.
After a short postponement while the Race Committee waited for the breeze to stabilise, the second race got under way in a steadier 12-17 knots of wind.
The standout performance came from France's Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel, who produced an impressive comeback through the fleet. After rounding the first mark well outside the leading group, they gained sixteen places over the course of the second beat before taking control of the race on the second lap. From there, the French crew sailed confidently to victory.
Germany's Amelie Wehrle and Riccardo Honold secured second place to strengthen their overall position, while Croatia's Ema Samaržija and Leon Scheidl completed the podium in third.
"Because we're racing in a single fleet, the key is to avoid big scores. We want to stay clear of UFDs and BFDs, keep our results consistent, and remain near the top of the standings to put ourselves in a strong position for the medal race", said Amelie and Riccardo.
"I think we trained a lot on the downwind, especially in light wind conditions, and it paid off a lot, especially in the first race. Also, in the last race we felt comfortable with a pretty strong wind, and we managed to take two boats in the last upwind. We were very fast in the second race", said Nicola Brunotti.
Race 3 delivered one of the closest finishes of the day with 16-20 knots on the race course. Italy's Livia Ciampinelli and Nicola Brunotti, teammates Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio, and France's Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel were locked in a three-way battle throughout the final stages of the race.
The outcome remained uncertain until the very last metres. On the final run to the finish, every gain counted, but it was Ciampinelli and Brunotti who found the best pressure and the fastest route to the line, securing their second race victory of the day. Valade and Bunel finished second, with Vucetti and Bonifacio completing the podium in third. And exactly the same looks the top 3 after the first day of racing.
The schedule for Thursday, 23.07, is as follows:
14:00 Coaches' Briefing, Bib Ceremony, ribbon distribution
16:00 First possible warning signal (2 races)