Brits reach the halfway stage of Nacra 17 Europeans
Written by RYA | 22 August 2013
Still all to play for at the Nacra 17 European Championships in Lake Como, Italy
British sailors in the new Olympic catamaran class have reached the halfway stage of the inaugural Nacra 17 European Championship in Lake Como, Italy, with it still all to play for before Saturday’s final medal race decider (24 August).
After six fleet races so far and with six still to come Lucy Macgregor and Tim Carter currently lead the way for the British Sailing Team as they lie four points of a top ten spot in 11th.
Helm Macgregor, who also finished 11th at the at the first World Championship in the new class at the Dutch venue of The Hague last month, and her crew Carter had a frustrating start to the regatta posting 22-21-13 in the challenging shifty conditions on Tuesday (20 August).
However, the Brits managed to find form on day two of the regatta (21 August) with a 13 and two fifth place finishes to move them up leaderboard into 11th.
The 2008 Olympic gold medallist Pippa Wilson and crew John Gimson are currently 15th out of the 44 boat fleet and will be aiming to build on their 12th place at the World Championship, while World silver medallists Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond had a promising start with two thirds in their opening two races, however have slipped into 17th after a frustrating second day on the eastern shore of the picturesque Lake Como.
The British Sailing Team’s Podium Potential pairing of Rupert White – whose late grandfather Reg took Britain’s only Olympic multihull gold medal to date with John Osborn in 1976 – and Nikki Boniface are currently harbouring a top 20 position in 19th overall.
The French pairing of Francois Morvan -Marie Riou are in pole position as they bid for European honours in this first season for the new multihull class, while Mandy Mulder - Coen De Koning (NED) are second and Thomas Zajac, Tanja Frank (AUT) sit third. A further six fleet races are scheduled before the top ten compete in the final medal race on Saturday 24 August.
For further event information, visit http://www.nacra17class.com/europeans/event-website/
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