The
start of this "World Premiere" European Mixed offshore Championship
take off with a nice sailing in front of the Iconic San Marco square in
the very center of Venice. the
seven teams including several Olympic medals, Figaro sailors, ocean
race veterans and offshore sailors, took the start just outside the
entrance of the Laguna di Venezia in a solid 12 knts north westerly
breeze and nice flat water.
Despite
the two different strategies the fleet arrived almost packed at the
rounding of the first mark after about 10 hours from the start. It
was really nice to see how close is the offshore racing when sailed in
one design boats.
Only
the Italian team had a technical problem big enough to make
them losing a bit of time but the Team is now back in the race trying
hard to close the gap.
Condition
at night were breezy with some bumpy sea but the south direction wind
was helping the fleet to keep the race on a fast track.
As you can see on the tracking on the web page www.ssi.events the
fleet, after reaching the mark of "San Giovanni in pelago", a very
beautiful rock with a light house on the top "floating" on the crystal
waters of the Croatian costs, is now heading to the finishing line in
Trieste right in front of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano.
The
Austrian team is, at present, leading in front of the french team and
the belgians, but the advantage is not yet big enough to make them
feeling safe of their lead.
In
fact, the approach of the Trieste gulf maybe tricky as the wind is
expected to drop and this maybe a factor that could mix the cards again.
Teams
are expected to arrive in the night or very early morning of Friday
11th depending on weather condition in the gulf of Trieste
The
event is the very first "premiere" of this new Olympic discipline, said
Riccardo Simoneschi, of SSI and Race Manager of the event: "there is a
lot of talking about this new discipline in the sailing world and I was,
personally, really interested in making a very first practical
experience. I think we have learned a lot and seen the high potential of
this discipline for sailing despite many shadows that still have to be
enlightened to make it working at the best. I'm very positive and think
that like every new idea, it will find the right balance. Many thanks
to FIV, Eurosaf, YC Venezia and Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano
for their support, to Marina di Sant'Elena for the logistic hospitality
in Venice. We are now excited to see the final rush of the Teams during
the night."
Prize Giving is scheduled for Saturday morning at 11 am in the Barcolana Village at the Prosecco Doc Hospitality.
Everybody
is welcome to visit the hospitality truck of the European Championship
and the Nastro Rosa 2020, the Italian Sailing Tour, that is positioned
at the entrance of the Barcolana Village and where it will be possible
to meet some of the sailors of this Championship.
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