2019 Soling European Championship at Lake Garda, Italy

by Elena Giolai 28 Jun 2019 07:33 BST 26-29 June 2019

2019 Soling European Championship © Elena Giolai

The beauty of sailing on Lake Garda is that you can attend international events every day, ranging from the most modern and fast flying catamarans, to classic boats that may be a bit slow, where technique and tactics are fundamental. And this is how we go from a youth event, to a race in which evolution is everything, or to an event where tradition is the master and above all it allows fun for sailors of all ages.

This is the case of the European Championships Soling, a former Olympic class, which on Saturday 29 June at the Circolo Vela Torbole will award the 2019 continental title: on board boys, young men and even helmsmen of a certain age, who face the event with great sporting spirit. But in this traditional class there is no lack of technical upgrades, such as the passage for some hulls participating in the carbon mast, instead of aluminium.

2019 Soling European Championship - photo © Elena Giolai

In these first two days the wind was medium-light: Wednesday- first day of racing - 10-12 knots somehow offered a less torrid afternoon than the one on Thursday when the wind settled on 8 maximum 10 knots, to have a complete drop after the first two tests and recover after a pause of about 20 minutes and to restart the fleet also for the third race of the day, fifth of the Championship. The classification so far is very balanced in the very first positions, also because of the difference that will be assigned only after the sixth round: in the same score the Finnish crew Heinonen-Gabor-Heinonen (1-3-11-6-2) with the Hungarian one helmed by Sandor Varjas, with Kovasci-Meretei (11-1-5-3-3).

2019 Soling European Championship - photo © Elena Giolai

The Ukrainian Olympic champions Yushko-Pichugin-Ivansits (Pichugin Olympic athlete in Atlanta and Sydney) are six points ahead of the fifth and final round of the day. And from Friday until Sunday the Garda Trentino will be filled with sails of all types and for all ages: from the most classic Soling boats to the Circolo Vela Torbole, to the fast and technological windsurfing at the Circolo Surf Torbole for the 30th RRD One Hour Classic, opened last year also for foils; up to the kids, who will race at the Circolo Vela Arco on the fast and acrobatic Open Skiff, IVF youth class. Sail to 360 degrees in the outdoors sports paradise.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1	FIN 46	Eki Heinonen	1	3	11	6	2	23
2	HUN 1	Sandor Varjas	11	1	5	3	3	23
3	UKR 1	Igor Yushko	9	11	3	5	1	29
4	AUT 7	Florian Felzmann	3	6	4	11	5	29
5	GER 308	Karl Haist	2	8	1	18	7	36
6	CAN 225	Peter Hall	7	2	10	2	19	40
7	GER 1	Roman Koch	5	4	9	8	17	43
8	NED 33	Rudy den Outer	4	7	2	22	12	47
9	ITA 259	Bruno Maffezzoli	8	18	15	9	8	58
10	GER 2	Christian Mack	21	9	13	4	16	63
11	SLO 1	Bostjan Antoncic	22	ocs	7	1	4	67
12	GER 331	Heino Schuckmann	12	12	6	23	20	73
13	GER 323	Matthias‑Christoph Dulce	17	14	17	25	6	79
14	USA 853	Matias Collins	25	13	18	14	10	80
15	NED 53	Peter Verboom	20	16	8	24	14	82
16	HUN 77	George Wossala	16	5	29	7	28	85
17	USA 824	David Crysdale	10	25	20	21	9	85
18	NED 44	Nynke Verwoerd	13	27	14	10	25	89
19	CAN 236	William Haliburton	14	10	ret	15	22	94
20	NED 49	Han van Veen	18	29	22	16	11	96
21	NED 38	Bram Soethoudt	15	15	16	28	23	97
22	GER 11	Michael Dietzel	dns	20	23	12	13	101
23	AUT 114	Christian Feichtinger	6	ret	12	19	dsq	103
24	NED 37	Ben Boogaerdt	24	19	19	26	15	103
25	FRA 164	Francois Gombeaud	23	23	24	13	27	110
26	ITA 213	Michele Campagnoni	19	21	27	17	26	110
27	ITA 241	Fabio Armellini	dnf	17	25	20	21	116
28	ITA 252	Alberto De Amicis	29	26	26	27	18	126
29	NED 48	Danker Rijk	26	24	21	30	30	131
30	AUT 86	Ekkehart Steinhuber	27	22	28	31	24	132
31	NOR 111	Christian Rieder	30	28	30	29	31	148
32	NOR 150	Hans Jostad	28	30	31	32	29	150