MEET THE CHAMPIONS!
Hello again from the Travemünder Woche/O’pen Skiff European Championships, on a day when the elements did their very best to send everyone home with great memories of great sailing in great conditions.
A fantastic finale to a fabulous week, with boats of all shapes and sizes enjoying the more settled wind and waves to show why the Travemünder Woche has become one of the biggest sail boat gatherings of the European sailing calendar.
It’s a truly amazing experience being here on the magnificent waters of the German Baltic coast, and the famous port city of Lübeck, pearl of the Baltic. Among the sailors, our 87 youngsters, who have come to soak up the atmosphere at one of sailing’s biggest weeks, but also come to contest the titles of the O’pen Skiff European Championships.
There were plenty who had made the effort, with the Italian team leading, by points and by example. Both fleets were lead from start to finish by the skillful Italians, who showed themselves best at adapting to the varying wind and water conditions here in Travemünde.
In the U13 category, and after eleven rounds of serious competition (one race lost in yesterday’s rough conditions) overnight easy-sleeper Federico Quaranta (Italy) was able to step up to top spot on the podium thanks to his great consistency, ahead of teammate Elias Nonnis and the fast finishing Sam Duflos (France).
SaIn the U17 category, the pressure finally told on long-time leader Manuel de Felice, with teammate and closest challenger Leonardo Nonnis overtaking in the final rounds for a fine victory, ahead of Felice and New Zealander Ben Tapper. Big up to him for making the effort to come all this way, and to his local Manly Sailing Club and the Russell Coutts Sailing Foundation for their support on his road to success. He’s done them proud.
Huge congratulations to all the young sailors who have competed in O’pen Skiff here, it takes a whole fleet to make a race, and anyone can win. Special congratulations to our new champions, Federico Quaranta and Leonardo Nonnis they will be the proud wearers of the winners jerseys.
But the real winner, as we have already said, is O’pen Skiff. Delivering great fun, great racing, great and deserving champions, truly one of the most dynamic classes in youth sailing today.
See you next time!