Six European titles up for grabs this week

Six European Champions will be decided in the Olympic classes this week with Championships being held in Great Britain, Greece and Italy.

Men’s and Women’s 470 Open Europeans
Sanremo, Italy
 
Tuesday 14 May will be the final day of competition for the Men’s and Women’s 470 fleets who are racing in Sanremo, Italy.
 
Competition on Monday was cancelled due to a gusting breeze which exceeded 40 knots. With six fleet races concluded, the top ten teams therefore move directly to the Medal Races. The first warning signal is scheduled for 11:00 for the women, followed by the men at 11:45. 
 
The points are close in both the men’s and women’s fleets.
 
Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) lead Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) by just seven points in the men’s fleet with Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez (ESP) in third.
 
In the women’s division, Hannah Mills, Rio 2016 gold medallist, and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) are five points clear of Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz (FRA) at the top of the pack. The points are close in third with Silvia Mas and Patricia Cantero Reina (ESP) effectively tied with Afrodite Zegers and Lobke Berkhout (NED) with just 0.4 of a point separating them.
 
Results – http://2019europeans.470.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall.
 
49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 Open Europeans
Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain
 
Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (ITA) showed the fleet they remain the favourites as the 2019 Volvo 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European Championships opened. The defending Nacra 17 World Champions and two time defending European Champions strung together three bullets that echoed their performances in 2018.
 
In the 49erFX, Vilma Bobeck and Malin Tengstrom (SWE) became contenders after a strong opening day showing. The young Swedes, who won the Junior World Championship in 2018, showed how in heavy weather, they are right in line with the World’s best.
 
The duo started well in the first two races, and couldn’t be reeled in, taking wire-to-wire victories in both races. In the final race of the day, they started poorly but moved up throughout the race passing on every leg.
 
Among the ten teams chasing them are the Olympic Champions, three other World Champions and two further European Champions.
 
Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn from New Zealand started with a 4th followed by a trio of bullets in their third of the qualifying fleet, which totals 96 international entries from nations as diverse as Oman and India. After a discard, the Kiwis top the leaderboard with 3 points, one point ahead of their fellow Kiwis and training partners, Pete Burling and Blair Tuke, returning to the same waters where they won an Olympic silver medal at London 2012 seven years ago.
 
Results – https://nacra17.org/events/2019-european-championship-2/?event_id=10137&mc_cid=89ff9c1107&mc_eid=aa1fa6780e#results
 
Finn Open Europeans
Athens, Greece
 
Four Tokyo 2020 Olympic spots are up for grabs at the Finn Open Europeans in Athens.
 
After a long day waiting onshore Monday, no racing was possible in very light and unstable winds.
 
The fleet of 84 boats from 33 nations spent the day wishing for wind, but with several rain fronts passing over and often no more than 3-4 knots of wind, racing was eventually abandoned for the day shortly before 16:00.
 
On Tuesday, the morning conditions are expected to be similar, so racing has been put back to 13:30 on Tuesday with three races scheduled.
 
Results and live tracking – 2019.finneuropeans.org.