29er European Championships are halfway done
Today marks the third day of 29er European Championships organized as part of the 25th edition of Gdynia Sailing Days. After 9 succesfull races we move into finals. Tomorrow sailors will get divided into three groups: gold, silver and bronze. The conditions weren’t easy today, with strong winds in one moment and almost none right after.
After today the ITA 3 team of Alex Demurtas and Giovanni Santi has advanced from third to first place. Just two points behind them is a Polish mix team - Ewa Lewandowska and Krzysztof Królik, who simultaneously lead their category. The previously unbeaten duo of Nolann Huet Des Aunay and Tituan Gresset have fallen into third place.
The U17 category is marked by close rivarly between Polish leaders - Bartosz Żmudziński and Brits - James Crossley and Sam Webb in one team and Finian Morris with Charlie Gran in the other. Joining the top men's crews is the South African team of Sean Kavanagh and Max Celliers.
- We’re content with our results so far. Today was a bit worse than yesterday, but we’re still managing to keep up a top 10 position so not all is lost and well keep fighting in the finals - said the RSA 3286 sailors.
Poles Alicja Tutkowska and Alicja Dampc lead the women’s category. Just four places behind them is a British team of Annabelle Vines and Amelie Hiscocks. The team closing up female top three are Fins Una Heinila and Silija- Sophie Laukkanen.
- Today’s wind was very irregular, so it was a big challenge to keep up a constant and good speed. Our best race was the first one, which we also won. After that we came in 14th and 10th, so there’s still room for improvement. Starting tomorrow we’ll be racing in the gold fleet, so both level of the field and pressure are going to rise. As for now we still have three days of racing, so we don’t have any particular expectations for ourselves. We’ll definitely continue to do our best and fight for the podium - summed up the Polish team.
The mix team of Ewa Lewandowska and Krzysztof Królik come into finals with an outstanding advantage of over 40 points. As of today the following top three teams are both Italian: Giulia Bartolozzi with Peter Rizzi and Emilia Salvatore with Pietro Zandri.
But racing wasn’t the only event on today’s agenda. A press conference was held in the Olympic Village, with the minister of Sport and Tourism Sławomir Nitras appearing as guest of honor. Alongside him we also welcomed the president of Gdynia - Aleksandra Kosiorek, President of Polish Yachting Association Tomasz Chamera and member of Parliament Agnieszka Pomaska. The most important topics discussed were the upcoming 2027 World Sailng World Championships, which Gdynia will be hosting as well as strengthening women’s position in professional sport.