Laser and Radial Europeans set for Dublin Bay
Written by RYA | 31 August 2013
Alison Young and Nick Thompson among the British challengers for European Laser honours
London Olympian Alison Young and three-time World Championship medallist Nick Thompson are set to spearhead the British challenge at the Laser Radial and Laser European Championships in Dublin Bay, Ireland, when racing gets underway this Sunday (1 September).
The six-day regatta sees some 129 Lasers and 103 Laser Radials preparing to do battle off Dun Laoghaire, with Young set to count local heroine Annalise Murphy among her main rivals for European honours.
Bewdley’s Young, 26, has enjoyed a solid 2013 season so far, picking up World Cup gold and bronze in Palma and Hyeres, and EUROSAF Champions Cup bronze in Holland.
She’s recently returned from a training stint in the Rio 2016 venue along with the fellow British Sailing Team Radial sailors Chloe Martin and Hannah Snellgrove, who’ll join Young in action this week in Ireland.
Nick Thompson, also fresh from a Rio visit, will be keen to make his mark in the Laser fleet this week.
In spite of three World Championship podium finishes, the 27-year-old Exeter-based sailor has yet to claim a European Championship medal, and has had a low-key season by his standards with just one podium finish this year from the Sail for Gold Regatta.
Thompson will face a strong Antipodean challenge for overall event honours with the likes of world number two Ryan Palk and fifth-ranked Ashley Brunning from Australia in contention, while the battle for European silverware could come from a number of quarters, including Cyprus’s Olympic silver medallist Pavlos Kontides, France’s Jean-Baptiste Bernaz and Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic.
Among the British Sailing Team Podium Potential sailors looking to make an impression will be Alex Mills Barton and Elliot Hanson, plus Lorenzo Chiavirini, who won bronze at the Laser under 21 Europeans and finished fourth in the under 21 World Championship.
Racing at the Laser and Radial Europeans is set to kick off at midday on Sunday, 1 September, with a provisional two races scheduled per day concluding on Friday 6 September.
For full entries, regatta results and information visit
www.lasereuropeans2013.com
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