Garda Trentino Olympic Week: Eurosaf Champions Sailing Cup - Overall
by Elena Giolai 11 May 2015 09:45 NZST
6-10 May 2015
Today was the final day of Garda Trentino Olympic Week, the second leg of the Eurosaf Champions Sailing Cup, with the medal races being held (the top ten qualifying for each final), with northerly winds of around 10 knots for nearly all the classes apart from the Nacra17 and the 470 women's who waited for the usual southerly wind at lunchtime.
The medal race saw a high level of technical skill and most of all a very high representation from many different countries qualifying.
The most exciting regatta was that of the Laser Standard which ended in a photo finish. Job well done for the organisers: Fraglia Vela Riva, representatives of Eurosaf and The Italian Sailing Federation, the support of various clubs of Upper Garda who not only acted as logistical bases for the 500 athletes but also played a fundamental role in the on water organisation of the event,Lega Navale Italiana, Circolo Vela Arco, Circolo Surf Torbole and Fraglia Vela Malcesine.
Michele Marchesini, technical director of the national team commented:
"Garda Trentino Olympic Week, the second leg of the Eurosaf tour concluded today with a technical level decidedly superior to previous years. It was really a wonderful edition with Italian Olympic sailing winning in five classes with a total of 9 medals and 20 qualifiers for the medal races. We can say that we are very satisfied with the results. The waters of Garda have confirmed that we are ready for the next Eurosaf date at Medemblik in The Netherlands and especially for the next stage of the ISAF Sailing World Cup scheduled in Weymouth, England in mid June."
49er
Italian success in the acrobatic class was important for several reasons. The crew of Trentino Ruggiero Tita and Giacomo Cavalli distinguished themselves in a demanding Olympic Week by winning the medal race outright. The two young sailors fended off a fleet of opponents including champions in the class. It confirms that Italy is gaining strides in this class. Second were Tomasz Januszewski and Jacek Nowak of Poland and in third place Italians Stefano Cherin and Andrea Tesei.
49er FX
Arguably the strongest Italian Olympic sailors at international level, Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich won " at home " on Lake Garda Trentino their first success in an international classic. Six wins out of eleven were results that speak for themselves. The Italians finished seventh in the Medal race but had already won the event mathematically the race before. Spaniards Tamara Echegoyen and Berta Betanzos (gold medallist in London 2012 in the match race), took second place after winning the Medal Race and third place went to Sinem Kurtbay and Silja Kanerva of Finland. They finished third in the Medal Race.
Nacra 17
The Italians held on until the finish in the Nacra 17 mixed catamaran, where Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri showcased their class by also winning the Medal Race, which was difficult because of the irregular light wind but also for resisting the attacks from New Zealanders Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders. In third place were Brits John Gimson and Hannah Diamond. A good fourth place went to the other Italians Lorenzo Bressani and Giovanna Micol who came in third in the Medal Race.
Laser Standard
This race was truly heart stopping in which Bernaz of France went in with a n 8 point lead. The Frenchman was able to win the title despite coming in sixth in the Medal Race just two points ahead of outstanding Olympian Robert Scheidt. By coming in third in the Medal Race he upped his position from the day before. Brit Thompson won the bronze coming in tenth in the Medal Race.
Laser Radial
Belgian Evi Van Acker dominated the women's category by also winning the Medal Race. Silver went to Tenkanen of Finland, she finished fifth today while Gintare Scheidt (Lithuania) finished in third place after finishing second in the Medal race.
RS:X M
This was a day to forget for Mattia Camboni. He had gone into the Medal race in the lead but took the wrong side of the buoy marker which dropped him into tenth place. His opponent and team-mate Daniele Benedetti took advantage of the situation and sailing sure and steady came third thus winning the category with a 12 margin over Camboni. Bronze went to Gadorfalvi of Hungary, (fourth in the Medal Race).
RS:X W
First in the Medal Race and overall is Frenchwoman Berenice Meg, followed by co-national Lucie Belbeoch. Cholnky of Hungary takes the bronze after coming in third in the Medal race and knocking Tetard of France off the podium by just one point.
470 M
The wind was very light for the double 470 Medal race. After always leading in the standings, Italians Sivitz Kosuta-Farneti took the gold medal even after coming in sixth in the Medal race. Silver went to Italian Savoini with Germans Winkel-Cipra taking bronze after coming second in the Medal Race. The final race was won by Koreans Changju-Jihoon.
470 W
As with the Nacra 17, the women's double 470 held their Medal race in the early afternoon with the wind from the south. It was the only Olympic class where the standings had been unchanged for the top three positions. Gold went to Mrak- Macarol of Slovenia followed by Fahrini-Siegenthaler of Switzerland (fifth in the Medal Race). Bronze went to Italians Berta-Paolillo who finished ahead of the Russians Kirilyuk- Dmitrieva in the Medal race (7-9 respectively).
Paralympic Classes
The three paralympic classes also enjoyed a great week of competition with very stable conditions if not challenging. It was very satisfying to see all three classes together, something quite rare in international competition.
2.4mR
The top three positions remained unchanged from yesterday so with a first and an eighth Antonio Squizzato of Italy took the gold 17 points ahead of Andarias of Spain (today 5-2). Nicola Redavid of Italy took bronze.
Sonar
This was a decisive race today in the Sonar class as only one point sperated the first three. With two seconds Italians D'Agaro-Solazzo-Pira took the gold overtaking Germans Bauer-Brietzke-Krauss (3-5-today). Third were the Spaniards with Llobet Ballcells at the helm.
Skud
Brits Rickham-Nirrel took top spot in the Skud category with 8 wins and a second (2-2 today), ahead of Canadians McRoberts -Gay. Bronze went to Italians Gualandris-Zanetti (5-4)
Full results for all classes can be found here.
Garda Trentino Olympic Week comes to a close with five Australian Sailing crews finishing in top ten (from Cora Zillich, Australian Sailing)
2015 Garda Trentino Olympic Week (6-10 May), the second leg of the Eurosaf Champions Sailing Cup, came to a close on Sunday.
Four out of seven Australian Sailing crews competing at Garda qualified for Sunday's top ten Medal Races and Australian Sailing Team's Laser sailor Matt Wearn (WA) finished the event as the best placed Australian in fifth place. Laser teammate Ryan Palk (QLD) followed in sixth.
Matt Wearn had been the leader of the 112-boat Laser fleet over the first two race days, before he dropped down a couple ranks in lighter breeze. In the Medal Race he lost his bronze-medal position and slipped down into overall fifth after finishing the race in ninth.
"After rounding the top mark in first on the first lap, things went backwards pretty quickly. I went from being in a position to win a bronze medal to ending the race in ninth, meaning I slipped down to fifth overall. It was not the end I was hoping for to what was a solid week, but it proves again how tight the racing is in the Laser fleet," Matt Wearn said after racing.
"Garda is a less important regatta in the overall scheme of things for us and I've been winding down a bit after Hyères, which was the first event of the European season for us to peak for. But overall it's been a good week to work on a few things that I was lacking in Hyères and to try out new gear."
Australian Sailing Squad's Euan McNicol (NSW) and Lucinda Whitty (NSW) finished the regatta in overall tenth place in the Nacra17. The pair had to miss a couple races due to some material damages, but managed to qualify for the Medal Race in which they finished fourth.
In the 49er, Australian Sailing Team's David Gilmour (WA) and Rhys Mara (VIC) moved up the ranks over the week and finished the regatta tenth. Teammates Joel Turner (QLD) and Lewis Brake (QLD) just missed out of the medal race and finished in eleventh place overall.
In the 49erFX Australian Sailing Squad's Haylee Outteridge (NSW) and Sarah Cook (NSW) kicked-off their European season with a 12th place. The pair used Garda as a test event before they will now head to the Delta Lloyd Regatta, where they aim to qualify for the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth.
"It's been great to finally start racing in Europe and we had a great week of learning. It was good to race in a range of conditions here in Garda and we're looking forward to Delta Lloyd Regatta next," Haylee Outteridge said.
Laser World #1 Tom Burton decided to pull out of racing after day one to prioritise some general recovery treatment at the Australian Institute of Sport European Training Centre in Varese.
While the event was a training regatta and not a priority event, Garda ranks highly amongst Australian Sailing's athletes as popular location and event for training and cross training as Matt Wearn explains:
"Garda is just a good place to be. It's got a good vibe and you can do lots of things, go riding, windsurfing, not just sailing. And that's probably a big reason for us to come here. We spend such a long time in Europe, so it's good to come to such a beautiful place and break it all up with different kind of trainings."
And about the things ahead he added: "I will have a bit of time off now, do Medemblik and ramp it up for Weymouth which should be a good lead-in to our World Champs in July."
Most of Australian Sailing's athletes will be heading to the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, Netherlands (26-30 May) next. Medemblik will be the lead-up event to the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth, UK in June (8-14 June).