DAY 2 REPORT OF 2023 470 JUNIOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
06 Jul 2023Matisse Pacaud and Lucie De Gennes remained the leaders of the Junior European Championships in the 470 class held in Gdynia. The defending French champions, who won the title last year in Vilamoura, Portugal, won all three races on Wednesday. However, on the second day of the regatta, the current junior world champions couldn't continue their winning streak and finished in second and third place.
"The first race on Thursday was characterized by variable conditions. It was interesting because it was different from the previous ones. For the first time in the championships, we had a west wind blowing from the shore, ranging from four to 14 knots, and the direction was also shifting. The competition resembled a bit of racing on a lake. Later, we had to wait until the sea breeze came, which was relatively stable. It was blowing at speeds of 10 to 19 knots, so the sailing conditions were very good," said Michał Jodłowski, the chief judge of the 470 class.
In the first race on Thursday, the Turkish duo Efe Tulcali and Defne Danismend came out on top, which allowed them to move up from third to second place in the overall standings. In the second race, the Polish team of Kacper Paszek and Oliwia Laskowska took the lead, surpassing the French team, and they were also overtaken by the Norwegian duo Julia Jacobsen and Emil Forslund, who were initially in the second top 10.
"From the beginning of the race, after a very good start, we sailed in the front. We made two good shifts at the beginning of the upwind leg, which gave us the lead. We were also sailing fast at full speed and further extended our advantage. Unlike the first race, the wind was steady, and we had to focus on boat handling. In the first race, we were in third position, but the conditions were variable, we made a mistake, missed one shift, and couldn't maintain a high position," commented Paszek and Laskowska.
On Thursday, the Greek pair Ariadne-Paraskevi Spanaki (who finished 15th in this class at the Olympic Games in Tokyo) and Odysseas-Emmanouil Spanakis performed less well. They finished quite far back in 21st and 10th place, dropping to third overall.
The championships will conclude on Monday, with 12 races planned. In Gdynia, 35 crews from 17 countries are competing, and the top 10 will participate in the final medal race.
Follow the championship at 2023junioreuropeans.420sailing.org