Afloat in the afternoon we held many starts and six short two lap coached races in a medium/light breeze. Thank you for the assistance from the team coaches from SWE, ITA, HUN and FRA/USA! At the end of the day was the Opening Ceremony with all the flags, welcome speeches and nice buffet snacks.

After a tough week for the Race Team a fabulous final day produced a ten race series with a good variety of winds giving a good mix for all the 70 competitors from 12 nations to shine.

Another early breakfast is scheduled with racing set to start at 08:30 again on Day 3 to be sure to make the most of the good opportunities for racing.

 

DAY 3
One race was possible in the light morning northerly before it faded and failed to come back in the afternoon. The day belonged to Italy! Leopoldo Sirolli (Tognazzi, ITA), Giulio Sirolli (Tognazzi, ITA) and Davide Mulas (LNI Del Sulcis, Sardinia, ITA) took the top three in the RS Aero 7s, notably all three of them were past podium finishers for Italy at Open Skiff Worlds in the past demonstrating the successful new development pathway in Italy.

In the RS Aero 5s the two young Italian sailors, Sara Murru and Ludovica Cui (both LNI Del Sulcis, Sardinia, ITA), took 1st and 3rd, split by Emma Vanhooff (BEL) in 2nd.

DAY 4
The afternoon breeze produced a light southerly and sunshine for racing and 2 races were possible. Racing was tight in the RS Aero 7s with Leopoldo, Davide and Peter Barton (Lymington GBR) mixing it at the front and Guilio winning the last race.

In the RS Aero 5s Germany came to the front with Michelle Krull (Berlin, GER) winning the first race whilst Attilia Banyai (HUN) took the second. However a scoring penalty was later imposed on the Hungarian in both races for support boat infractions, which left the title wide-open going into the final day.

DAY 5
In the hope of achieving 4 races in two sessions another early start was set for 08:00! The wind did not disappoint and the fleets were delighted to have a good hiking breeze of about 12kn in the first race. The second was light and tricky, before the fleet returned ashore and in the afternoon and good southerly Ora wind arrived with sunshine and a 12-15kn breeze.

The RS Aero 7 title was close going into the day but a 1,2,1,1 from Peter sealed the Championship with Leopoldo’s strong series taking 2nd and Giulio 3rd just beating Javier Estarellas (Palma, ESP) and Daragh Sheridan (Howth, IRL) for the final podium spot with a solid final day. Eric Rieve (Berlin, GER) took the win in the 2nd race of the day, showing good form in the challenging lake breeze!

In the RS Aero 5s Attila did what he needed to with a strong 1,1,1,1 to secure the championship and blow away his troubles from the day before. Francesca Ramazzotti (Veliamoci, Sardinia, ITA) took second overall and Roy Van Maanen (Greystones, IRL) smashed in a good final day for 3rd just ahead of Vanja Ramm-Ericson (SWE).

Thanks to Fraglia Vela Malcesine, their race committee and the jury for producing an excellent event and race series during a difficult week of weather and in challenging times. Thanks to the support Rooster Sailing, Selden Mast, RS Sailing and Negri Nautica in providing an excellent spread of prizes.

Italian Gallery for larger photos 

Full Album on Facebook by Angela Trawoeger of Fraglia Vela Malcesine

 

 

 

Next Up in Europe for the RS Aero Class is a series of National Championships with the UK and Swedish nationals in August and the Italian, Irish Czech and Dutch championships in September.