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News REGATTAS IN DECEMBER
REGATTAS IN DECEMBER
While some sailors, coaches and parents were under preparations for the Worlds in Malaysia,
While some sailors, coaches and parents were under preparations for the Worlds in Malaysia,
While some sailors, coaches and parents were under preparations for the Worlds in Malaysia, many others were racing in different corners of the world, some of them in sunny skies, some others in chilly winters. See below a brief summary of the regattas that took place in December and at the beginning of January.
Sv Nikola | Ciutat de Palma | Orange Bowl | EuroMed | Coupe de Nwel | Mediterranean Meeting | Marcello Campobasso
Sv Nikola - Pula, Croatia - December 1 to 3
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Cold weather in Pula during the traditional Sv Nikola regatta, attended by 261 sailors from 12 countries. After 4 races, Paolo Grgorinic took gold tied in points with Asil Örgen from Turkey. The tie was resolved in favour of Paolo as he finished second in the last race while Asil had a 16th. |
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Trofeo Ciutat de Palma - Palma de Mallorca, Spain - December 4 to 8
The 60th edition of the Trophy was notable for the similar level of the fleet, as proved by the fact that it was not until the the last race when the final positions were decided. Silvia Mas from Spain was the star of the competition, winning the overall ranking after two bullets, a second, a third, a fourth and a seventh among more than 350 competitors from 14 countries. Frederik Rask from Denmark finished second, just one point behind Silvia, while Franc Bru Vert from Spain was third overall.
For the last few years the championship has acquired a reputation as a first-class event and many sailors from different parts of the world travel to Palma to test their skills against other top-level sailors. Among the competitors that gathered in Palma de Mallorca in 2010 were the newly crowned World Champion Noppakao Poonpat from Thailand, who finished 10th; Marvin Frisch from Germany, 5th overall in Malaysia and 6th in the Trophy; Bart Lambriex from the Netherlands, 15th in Malaysia and 4th in Palma and many others.
Orange Bowl Regatta - Miami, USA - December 27 to 30
The traditional multi class event hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club combined 665 sailors in 6 classes racing on 4 racing areas. The regatta, with over 36 years of tradition, is one of the most popular youth sailing events in the USA and the region (North and South American and the Caribbean). Ironically, the championship began in the 50’s and 60’s as a power boat race on Biscayne Bay. :)
The Optimists were the biggest class with 218 sailors from 15 countries. 7 races were sailed on the three racing days, with the fleet divided in 4 groups. Sean Brennan from USA took gold, Victor Migraine from France got silver and Martina Sly from USA took bronze and gold in the girls fleet.
Euromed - Mellieha Bay, Malta - December 17 to 21
The 11th edition of the Euromed Malta Championship was organised by the Malta Young Sailors Club in association with KMS (Kunsill Malti Ghall-Isport) and the Mellieha Local Council and was held under the auspices of the Malta Sailing Federation.
Of the 93 sailors from 5 countries gathering in Mellieha Bay, the Italian delegation was by far the largest team with 39 sailors, all of them from Sicily. The local Maltese team was the second largest with 27 sailors while the other big foreign team were the Russian, with 18 sailors and two coaches, all of them from St Petersburg. (happy to enjoy a few days in 16°C temperature instead of -3°C in Russia). Israel was represented by 7 sailors and the UK by 4.
Three bullets in the first three races gave Pavel Rasskazov from Russia enough confidence to be at the top of the fleet in all 9 races and win the championship easily. Edward Fleri Soler from Malta had good results as well but a 34th in race 5 took out from him the chances to win the event. Third place overall was for Italian sailor Ugo Pace.
Coupe de Nwel - Bas du Fort, Guadeloupe (France) - December 26 to 30
This edition of the Cup had all the ingredients to make it a success: good winds, waves, sun, and a good organisation that ensured the excitement of sailors racing on the Guadeloupeans waters at Gosier bay. The Optimist fleet was the largest of the multi-class regatta, with 45 sailors from Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and Continental France.
Among the younger sailors grouped in the "Benjamin" fleet, Enzo Balanger dominated the fleet from the very beginning and had all bullets except for the discards, a 2nd and a 3rd.
In the "Minime" fleet (older sailors) local sailor Swann Hayewski finished with 7 points as Enzo did, but he discarded an OCS from race 2. Merik Regnault, also from Bas du Fort, finished in second place while Laetitia Bourgoin was third overall and first girl.
Mediterranean Meeting - San Remo, Italy - December 28 to 30
As in previous editions, the Meeting was attended by many international teams that spent the holidays between Christmas and New Year's eve in Riviera and competed for one of the most popular trophies in the Italian calendar. This year's turnout was 66 competitors from 7 countries, including three sailors from Monaco and one from Andorra.
Kinder was the event sponsor, providing the sailors with a variety of their products.
Trofeo Marcello Campobasso - Naples, italy - January 4 to 6
The Trophy was organised by the Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia together with the Italian Sailing Federation and the Italian Optimist Association, was sponsored by the Banco di Napoli, S.p.A., Berna, Ferrarelle, MN Metropolitana di Napoli S.p.A. under the auspices of the Municipality of Naples.
After three days of races and 5 races sailed, the podium for the "Juniores" (older sailors) was occupied by sailors from Turkey, Spain and Italy. The winner of the Trophy was Turkish sailor Getin Anil from the Bodrum Sport Cub, who finished first in two races, fourth, second and eighth (discarded). Joan Cardona, the only Spanish sailor at the event, was second overall and Matteo Pincherle third.
Maria Vittoria Marchesini from the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, was 6th overall and first girl, and was awarded the Tharga d'argento Challenge, a permanent trophy in the name of Irene Campobasso. This was the second time that a sailor from the Circolo Triestino received the cup, last year awarded to Carlotta Omari.
