29erXX Gold Cup at Lake Garda
by Jerelyn Biehl 17 Jul 2009 07:43 BST
12-16 July 2009
Lehtinen and Howard win 29erXX Gold Cup
Winning 6 of the 9 races, Finnish sailor Silja Lehtinen with crew Will Howard sailed brilliantly to win the 2009 29erXX Gold Cup. Using their first race of a 6th as their discard, the pair sailed brilliantly mastering the technical skiff in trying conditions on Garda Lake in northern Italy.
Swedish sailors Sara Engstrom and Hanna Dahlborg posted mostly top 10 finishes to secure second place. Third place was a hard battle with US sailor Jen Morgan-Glass with German Billoch as crew posting good finishes on the final day to move them onto the podium.
Silja in her prizegiving speech thanked her fellow competitors for the great competition, the designer Julian Bethwaite for designing a challenging boat for women with hopes she can sail it in the Olympics some day.
The top 3 were awarded trophies by the hosting club Fraglia Della Riva and watches by Class sponsor SEIKO.
Many of the competitors are focusing on the next event, the 29erXX Europeans to be held in Zadar, Croatia August 29-September 5 in conjunction with the 49er European Championship.
For more information, video, photos and results sett www.29er.org and www.29erworlds.org