2024 29er European Championships at Gdynia, Poland - Day 4
by International 29er Class 7 Jul 2024 16:32 UTC
1-8 July 2024
2024 29er European Championships at Gdynia, Poland - Day 4 © International 29er Class
On Saturday the finals of the 29er European Championship, held as part of the 25th edition of Gdynia Sailing Days began. Sailors went out in three fleets: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Each of the fleets managed to complete three races, on the windiest day so far in the series.
In the Overall standings Ewa Lewandowska and Krzysztof Królik managed to secure the first place and in the mixed category. Just four points behind them stand yesterday's leaders - Italians Alex Demurtas and Giovanni Santi. Third and fourth Overall place belongs to British crews - Finian Morris with Charlie Gran and James Crossley with Sam Webb.
Poles Bartosz Zmudzinski and August Sobczak still reign in the U17 category. Second amongst the youths are Frenchmen Alexander Mostini and Raphael Allain, followed by Germans Lucas and Moritz Hamm.
"Despite a few shifts, today's wind was the strongest and most consistent out of all the days we've been here. We raced in the Gold fleet, so it was nice to feel the pressure rising amongst other teams. After the second race the wind died down a little, so it was difficult to keep up a good position and we unfortunately lost our good streak. During these past couple of days, we definitely learned that Gdynia is a pretty challenging venue to race in, but it doesn't scare us. We like it here and we're looking forward to the final two days of the Championship" - summed up the British Finian Morris and Charlie Gran.
Alicja Tutkowska and Alicja Dampc still hold first place amongst women with an impressive lead of 45 points over the British team of Annabelle Vines and Amelie Hiscocks. The rivarly is tighter between the second and third - a Finnish team of Una Heinila and Silija- Sophie Laukkaken, with just a four point difference.
Second place in the mixed category currently goes to to Swedish duo of Selma Hard and Lukas Wolfgang. They hold a seven - point lead over the third team - Italians Giulia Bartolozzi and Pietro Rizzi.
"After the gold fleet races we can definitely say that the level of the field is very high. Today we struggled a little bit, as Pietro is more on the skinny side, which makes it harder for us to gain speed in stronger winds. We finished 15th in the first race which was good, however that was unfortunately followed by a bad 38th finish. In the end we managed to redeem ourselves with a 33rd place, so overall it was an okay day for us" said the Italians.
Three more races are scheduled for Day 7 and 8 where the European Champions of the Mixed, Mens and Women's fleets will be crowned on Monday 8th July. The Nations Cup award goes to the Country with the top three teams from at least two categories.
Find out more at 29ereuropeans.org