RS Aero European Championship - Carnac, France, June 2024

RS Aero European Championship - Carnac, France, June 2024
Ben Flower reports on an awesome RS Aero Europeans in France, Brittany tourism and the football...

Who went to Carnac between the 21^st & 24^th June 2024 and didn’t enjoy themselves?  112 competitors from 14 countries competed in the 4^th RS Aero European Championship on the sunny shores of west Brittany. From the outset the forecast looked promising for the first two days of racing and challenging for the last two days of racing so with the ability to have up to four races per day competitors prepared themselves for what lay ahead.

Several different pre-event strategies were taking place across the fleets with some arriving early to the venue to get a feel for the conditions and make sure their RS Aeros, especially their batten tensions, were optimally set up. Others with strict work commitments impressively got the overnight ferry from the United Kingdom on the 20^th and then drive frantically down to Carnac just in time to register before racing started in the afternoon. Devon sailors Mark Ripley & Ben Flower took a unique approach sightseeing on their trip across Brittany stopping off at the Valley of the Saints and a WWII submarine base in Lorient. For those who have never heard of the Valley of the Saints it’s a unique statue sculpture display across several fields with each statue being a Breton Saint where they hope to construct over 1,000 monumental statues. The crazy concept was created by Philippe Abjean who, linking it back to Carnac, wants to create a modern day version of the Carnac Rocks!

Let’s get to the racing...Day 1 was forecast to be the windiest and most challenging for the sailors, westerly winds with gusts over 25 knots. British sailors are renowned across the globe for being a country with strong hiking sailors and this was evident in race 1 where across all four classes a British based sailor managed to pierce the line first to go into the vertical lead. In these challenging conditions keeping the boat upright was half the battle and by doing so would elevate your position, even race leaders were going for a swim. Race 2 and the attrition factor was setting in with several sailors heading ashore for an early shower. Defending RS Aero 6 European Champion Chris Hatton was able to show the fleet his natural speed and take victory and put him in the overall lead after Day 1 just in front of Olympic campaigner Sofia Naumenko from Ukraine. In the RS Aero 7 fleet the pre-event favourites were showing their class with former Olympic 49er sailor Pim van Vugt recovering after a main halyard failure in race 1 to take a solid 3^rd and be in the mix for day 2 of racing. The smallest rig the, RS Aero 5s, had some close battles but race 1 winner George Lenney couldn’t finish race 2 which meant Enrico Loi from Cagliari, Italy was in the overnight lead.

After racing was the opening ceremony with each country having the opportunity to have their photo taken on the sea wall with a fantastic spread of food. The social for the evening continued with intense football action between France & The Netherlands, where many competitors at the event had vested interest in their home countries followed by live music from the Cauliflowers in the ‘Exit Bar’.

Day 2 and a slightly reduced forecast presented itself but with four races scheduled this was still going to be a hike fest. Impressive sailing by anybody who completed all 4 races but even more so to Pim Van Vugt & Enrico Loi who managed to sweep the day with straight bullets! Overnight leader in the RS Aero 7 fleet Noah Rees was the bridesmaid to Pim in all four races and was probably fed up of looking at his transom by the end of the days racing. In the RS Aero 9 rigs defending European Champion and current RS Aero 7 World Champion Peter Barton showed his experience starting the day with back to back bullets and lead the fleet after 4 races, pegged back in the latter two races by Ben Flower who after an intense nose to tail race with Sweden’s Erik Wahlberg managed to pip Erik to the line to maintain a narrow 3 point lead over Barton at the half way point. Sofia Naumenko despite an uncharacteristic first race of the day managed to bounce back to take a hat trick of bullets and put her in a comfortable position at the head of the RS Aero 6 fleet.

Post racing and with much lighter winds forecast over the coming days a large majority of the fleet headed to the popular Exit Bar with many huddled up in what was dubbed ‘top tips corner’. With current event leaders, former European & World champions all sharing their knowledge it was an opportunity not to be missed to gain valuable tips and tricks as well as contributing towards the banter.

Day 3 of racing and there was an early postponement to the racing which gave the opportunity for sailors to sleep in longer or explore the area by going on a bike ride. Once racing got underway there was a light but consistent onshore breeze of about 8 knots which gave the opportunity to some of the light wind specialists to show their form. Robbie Lawson from Scotland in the Rs Aero 9 fleet was one of those who led to the first windward mark in both races but disaster in race 1 struck as Robbie was presuming it was outer loop racing, unfortunately for him it was inner loop. Another strong RS Aero 9 sailor showing his light wind finesse and his fast downwind speed was Timothy Woodcock who in race 7 took a deserved 2^nd place. In the RS Aero 7 fleet Noah Rees took the fight to former Olympian Pim Van Vugt and ended the day equal on points with the Dutchman but behind only on tiebreaker. Would this set up a possible match race on the final day with Noah boasting a much more consistent score line? Other impressive results included Andy Kilburn finishing runner up in both races and Nicolas Honor moving up to 15^th overall with a very tidy 4^th & 6^th place finishes in the days racing. The honours were shared between leading RS Aero 6 sailor Sofia Naumenko & former RS Aero 5 World Champion Andrew Frost with each finishing with three points each on the day. This set up a final day showdown between these two sailors both confirmed of at least a Silver medal overall with current Bronze placed sailor Dan Venables unable to catch the pair. Also in the RS Aero 6 fleet Bassenthwaite sailor Ellie Craig moved herself up the order and into the top 10 with a solid pair of top 4 finishes. Last but not least in the RS Aero 5 fleet it was a shakeup in the pecking order as Vittoria Cartelli & Felix Dion shared the honours with a bullet each both dominating the day and finishing with 3 points apiece and with more light winds forecast on the final day they both put themselves with an outside shot of getting on the podium.

The Scottish sailors were out in force for the final evening of the event as their nation took on Hungary in the final group game of the Euro’s, incorporating into the social calendar everyone in Bar Java was a Scottish fan tonight. Why weren’t they watching the match at the Exit Bar? Apparently Germany vs Switzerland was the better game. Despite having moments to win the game Scotland conceded in the 90+10 minute of the game to seal their exit from the tournament with Scottish sailor Robbie Lawson stating ‘it was always in the script to end this way’.

A very slim chance of racing lay ahead for the competitors but the race team were determined to get racing and despite a small delay onshore they got the fleet launched and on their way to the race course. However the wind was steadily dropping and only two sailors made it to the start line before AP over A was displayed and the fleet was towed ashore. This was a shame as there were some real tight battles up and down the fleets which would have been fascinating to see how they all played out.

Peter Barton quickly changed out of his wetsuit and went from championship contender to the MC for the prize giving along with another fabulous spread of food laid on by Yacht Club Carnac. Despite Brits littering the podium places, four different nationalities won each fleet. The RS Aero 5 fleet was locked out by Italians, won by the dominant Enrico Loi followed by Mattia Monti from Rimini & Manconi Andrea from Cagliari taking the bronze medal. In the RS Aero 6 fleet Sofia Naumenko showed the boys how it was done taking victory with British sailors Andrew Frost & Dan Venables rounding out the podium. The match race that never was meant Pim Van Vugt edged Noah Rees in his first time racing an RS Aero with Felpham sailor Jack Miller once again on the podium at an international RS Aero championship. The RS Aero 9 Fleet had two North Americans on the podium with Canadian Olympic campaigner Ben Flower holding off the ever present Peter Barton with American Madhavan Thirumalai taking the bronze medal back across the pond, and Erik Wahlberg 3rd European.

All in all a fantastically hosted event by Yacht Club Carnac and the RS Aero class return to the same stretch of coastline for the RS Aero World Championships in late July 2025 in Quiberon, you won’t want to miss it!

PHOTOS by Antoine Dujoncquoy
French Gallery
Full Selection
Facebook Albums: Opening Ceremony & Teams,  Day1,  Day2,  Day3 & Day4 Awards Ceremony
VIDEO
RESULTS