Seiko 29erXX Eurocup at Fraglia vela Riva, Lake Garda
by Dave Hall 5 Nov 2009 12:41 GMT
30 October - 1 November 2009
29er and 29erXX Eurocup on Lake Garda © GT Foto di Gianni Tomazzoni
After the resounding success in the summer of the Seiko 29erXX Gold Cup Seiko once again provided sponsorship and spectacular prizes for a second event at Lake Garda. Taking place at Fraglia Vela Riva over the long weekend of the 30th October – 1st November it provided a fitting close to the European season..
Sailed in conjunction with the last 29er Eurocup nine selected teams arrived and with the help of Ovington boats set up their rented xx rigs on their own boats.
During the run up to the 3 day event Lake Garda had provided much autumn sunshine but not a lot of wind. However, bang on race time of the first day a 20knot plus gradient wind swept in from the south and gave the fleet 3 cracking races. In race one Dave Hall and Nicola Smith started how they hoped to go on wining the first race by keeping the rig above the water while some of the new teams found swimming to be time consuming. The next 2 races however were dominated by the GBR team of Katie Nurton and Louise Walker who started to revel in the strong winds.
Day 2 started with a little lighter wind for the first two races and a few different names popped to the front. The Italian team of Daniele Poli and Michele Monzini who had an indifferent first day started their climb to the front of the fleet with a 3,3,2,1. The young German team of Phillip Mueller and Janich Moretz also had a good day with a 1,2,2,2.
The last day brought an early start to catch the morning Northerly breeze. There were only a few points between the first boats so it was all to play for. Conditions were shifty to say the least but Poli & Monzini seemed to understand the pattern and won the first race of the day by a substantial margin. Mueller & Moritz gave away the chance of the event title with an OCS while Hall & Smith sailed consistently to gain a 3rd. The final race took place in the dying wind; once again the ITA team of Poli & Monzini led the way holding their nerve as the wind came and went alternately on the last run.
A truly eventful regatta for which a big thank you must go to the Fraglia Vela Riva for organising the racing at such short notice and of course Seiko for the fantastic prizes.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm and Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | ITA 4 | POLI DANIELE, MONZINI MICHELE | -5 | -3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | GER 51 | MUELLER PHILIPP, JANICH MORITZ | 4 | -6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | (ocs) | 2 | 15 |
| 3 | GBR 777 | HALL DAVID, SMITH NICOLA | 1 | -4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | -5 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| 4 | GER 1 | KRAMER PHILIPP, KRAMER THILO | 3 | 2 | -5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -7 | 20 |
| 5 | GBR 2 | NURTON KATIE, WALKER LOUISE | 2 | 1 | 1 | -7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | -8 | 24 |
| 6 | GER 7 | GIESER WERNER, AIGNER MONIKA | (dnf) | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | -9 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 40 |
| 7 | FIN 3 | LINDQVIST ROSA, VAN DER ENDE NOVA | (dnf) | (dnf) | dnf | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 46 |
| 8 | ITA 8 | BERTANI TORQUATO, BATTINI PAOLO | (dnc) | (dnc) | dnc | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 55 |
| 9 | ITA 5 | CARABELLI VINCENZO, MASSARANI CHIARA | (dnf) | (dnf) | dnf | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 57 |