Sunday morning coming down, after the England win in Miami – not pretty but got the job done – the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European Championship competitors return to the water to face two races for each class to decide the Titles
The final day in Eckernförde, Germany, may not have the trauma of the VAR, but the final day with all scores adjusted so that no boat starts more than nine points from the one ahead tell the story of just how open this event is.
And the Protest Room was well used with the 49er’s involved in four protests. And Britain’s FX pair Freya Black and Saskia Tidey garnering a DSQ from race 15, knocking them out of the top ten.
In the men’s 49er, Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush NZL carry a lead of eight points over James Grummett and Rhos Hawes GBR, with Mikołaj Staniul and Jakub Sztorch POL two further back.
In the women’s 49erFX, the Canadians Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance hold exactly nine points – a 34-point cushion on the water has been compressed to exactly nine by the Finals adjustment – over Bergmann and Hanna Wille GER, with Mathilde Lovadina and Lou Berthomieu FRA just one point behind them.
And in the mixed Nacra 17, no adjustment was even needed at the top — Emil Järudd and Hanna Jonsson SWE, reigning European Champions John Gimson and Anna Burnet GBR, and Willemijn Offerman and Scipio Houtman NED start the day on 62, 66 and 69 points, as close as a title fight gets.
Whatever has happened during this week in the qualifier races, the European Championships will be decided on the water on the final day, and if this event has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected.
Sunday morning coming down . . . Well I woke up Sunday morning. With no way to hold my head, that didn’t hurt. And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad, So I had one more for dessert. Lyrics Kris Kristofferson