Easing winds impact Nacra 17 Europeans

Weymouth, England (May 18, 2019) – A light and tricky final day of fleet racing has mixed up the leaderboard at the Nacra 17 Europeans and made it an out and out battle for the top spots going into the medal race. Only 12 points separate the top 6 boats meaning anyone of them could come away with the win, but equally come away missing the podium altogether.

An incredible late surge from Ben Saxton and Nicola Boniface (GBR), clearly loving the lighter winds at the tail end of this week’s competition, have brought them into contention for the medals having been hanging outside all week.

They scored a 1,2 today winning the day and putting leapfrogging themselves into second, only 4 points behind the leaders Ruggero Tita and Catarina Banti (ITA), who struggled a little today in the really light conditions scoring a 23, 11 but still doing enough to stay at the top.

Further down the pack with a brilliant final day of a 4,5 and just scraping into the medal race in 10th is Olympic gold and silver medallist Nathan Outteridge, sailing with his sister Haylee Outteridge (AUS). Fairly new to the Nacra 17 fleet but clearly getting to grips with the boat quickly – we wouldn’t expect anything less from this pair.

But they’ll need to start ramping things up quickly with a tough battle on their hands to qualify themselves for Tokyo 2020 as their rival, Australian team mates and Rio Olympic silver medallists, Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin – not here this week due to an injury for Jason – have managed to win the last 3 Nacra regattas they’ve sailed in, showing incredible form and consistency.

With the points so tight at the top, it’s going to be a nail biting medal race for the top 10 in the Nacra fleet. With Olympic Test Event spots up for grabs, a European title on the line and many teams wanting to stamp their authority on the fleet as we begin to look towards the final year to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Tomorrow’s medal race will surely be a key indicator as to which of the 6 top teams can keep their nerve and perform under huge pressure when it really matters.

The Nacra 17 Europeans are on May 13 to 19 off Weymouth, England.

Day Five Results (Top 5 of 55; 17 races, 2 discards)
1. ITA Ruggero Tita, Caterina Banti 55
2. GBR Ben Saxton, Nicola Boniface 59
3. GBR John Gimson, Anna Burnett 61
4. DEN Lin Cenholt, CP Lubeck 63
5. ARG Mateo Majdalani, Eugenia Bosco 64

Event details – Results – Facebook

North American Results:
Top ten or top position
24th Sarah Newberry/ David Liebenberg (USA)

Competing from North America:
Canada: Allie Surrette/ Max Flinn
USA: Sarah Newberry/ David Liebenberg, Riley Gibbs/ Anna Weis, Ravi Parent/ Caroline Atwood, Nicholas Martin/ Romy Mackenbrock

Source: Port Tack Racing