2026 Tornado European Open, Mixed & Youth titles decided
by International Tornado Class Association 7 Sep 09:37 BST
1-5 September 2026
What a finish. Going into the final day at Lake Garda, Konstantinos Trigonis and Konstantinos Kazantzis (GRE 11) were leading the championship with a 10-point lead.
They had been at the top through the previous days, with Nikolaos Mavros and Polydoros Parianos (GRE 86) in second and Marcel and Jörg Steiner (SUI 110) right behind them. Then came the final two races.
Mavros and Parianos put together a great final day, finishing second in Race 10 and winning the last race of the championship. With 30 net points, they moved into first place and became the 2026 Tornado Open European Champions.
They had been fighting at the front all week and finished the championship with four race wins. But the biggest win came in the final race, when everything was on the line.
It was a real plot twist. Trigonis and Kazantzis had led the championship going into the last day, but when the final scores went up, Mavros and Parianos were on top.
Trigonis and Kazantzis finished second with 31 net points, just one point behind. They had a ninth in Race 10, which became their discard, followed by a sixth in the final race. After leading for most of the championship, they had to settle for silver.
Marcel and Jörg Steiner (SUI 110) finished third overall with 38 net points. The Swiss team had a strong middle part of the championship, including a race win, and stayed in the fight for the podium throughout the week. On the final day, they scored sixth and fifth, enough to secure third place and the bronze medal. A solid and consistent championship from the Steiners.
Michael Papadopoulos and Iordanis Pascalidis (GRE 77) finished fourth overall with 65 net points, ending the championship strongly with fifth and third in the final two races.
Their result completes an outstanding performance by the Greek fleet, with three Greek crews in the top four. Mavros-Parianos are World Champions, Trigonis-Kazantzis are former World Champions, and Papadopoulos is a Mixed World Champion, while Trigonis and Pascalidis also bring Olympic experience.
A remarkable result for Greek Tornado sailing at Lake Garda.
Jean-Marc Cuanillon and Michael Gloor (SUI 232) complete the top five overall on 69 net points. They had started the championship very well and stayed in the top group throughout the week. Their final day brought an 11th and a fourth, giving them a strong finish and fifth place overall. That also means two Swiss teams finished in the top five.
Czech teams take all three mixed places
There was a great result for the Czech fleet in the mixed classification, with all three mixed podium places going to Czech teams.
Michaela Pavlisova and Marek Pavlis (CZE 72) were the top mixed team, finishing sixth overall with 71 net points.
Second mixed and seventh overall were Zdenek Pavlis and Klara Pavlisova (CZE 62) on 78 net points. They had a very good week, including a second-place finish in one of the races.
Third mixed went to Vladimir Hanak and Jana Hadasova (CZE 6), who finished 16th overall with 146 net points.
Three Czech teams on the mixed podium is a fantastic result and a great sign for the strength of the Czech Tornado fleet, who will host the 2027 European championship next May.
Spanish team takes the Youth title
Roque García Agudo and Vicent Jaume Serra García (ESP 12) finished 10th overall with 87 net points and were the leading Youth team.
They had several strong results during the week, including fourth-place finishes, and finished the final day with a 10th and a 15th. A top-10 finish in a 22-boat European Championship fleet is a very good result, and it was great to see the young Spanish team mixing it with some of the most experienced sailors in the fleet.
It was a great week for the Tornado class, with close racing, a strong international fleet representing 11 countries, including Olympians, World and European champions, and some really good performances in the mixed and Youth categories.
And at the front, we got exactly the kind of finish you hope for in a championship.
Trigonis and Kazantzis were leading going into the final day. Mavros and Parianos had two races left to change the story. They did.
Congratulations to the winners!
A big thank you to Univela Campione, the race committee, organisers and all the volunteers who made the championship happen.
Special thanks to our ITA event organiser, Andrea Trere, and to Tristano Vacondio, event organiser from Univela Campione Sailing Club.
And, of course, thank you to all the sailors and teams who came to Lake Garda and made it such a great championship.
Titles are decided at the finish — and this one changed hands on the very last day.