Austria wins Mixed Offshore Europeans

Trieste, Italy (October 11, 2019) – The inaugural EUROSAF Mixed Offshore European Championship finished with Austrians Lisa Berger and Christian Kargl taking gold over the six other international teams that were racing the L30, a 30-foot one design monohull selected for World Sailing’s Offshore World Championships in 2020.

The course began in Venice on October 9 before the race finish today in Trieste. The start of the 187nm course took place in front of the iconic San Marco square in the very center of Venice.

An interested audience was welcoming the seven teams which included several Olympic medals, Figaro sailors, ocean race veterans as they began just outside the entrance of the Laguna di Venezia in a solid 12 knots north westerly breeze and flat water.

Right after the start, the fleet was divided by two different strategical approaches: some of the teams were using a “code zero” heading mainly “on route” (approximately 120° to the first mark, the island of Susak in Croatia) while others were sailing more south with the gennaker, heading toward a foreseen southerly wind-shift, with the Scirocco wind filling in the Adriatic Sea later in the evening.

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 just the beginning as the teams sought to learn how best to sail these new boats, benefiting from their one design standard for feedback.

Condition at night were breezy – in the range of 30 knots with some bumpy sea – but the south direction wind was helping the fleet to keep the race on a fast track. After reaching the mark of “San Giovanni in pelago”, a very beautiful rock with a light house on the top on the Croatian costs, the fleet headed to the finishing line in Trieste right in front of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano.

The Austrian team was building a nice leading right after the start sailing as first towards the South wind that was foreseen in the weather forecast. They rounded the Island of Susak in first followed by the Belgians, French, and Australians.

This top four boats sailed in a close pack in the following light breeze along the Croatia and Slovenian shore until a partially rebuilding breeze brought them to the finishing line in Trieste stretching a little bit the fleet.

The leadership of the Austrian was becoming solid and they crossed the line to become the first European Champions of this new discipline.

Final Results
1st > TEAM AUSTRIA > Lisa Berger / Christian Kargl > GOLD
Arrival time 02:00 am

2nd > TEAM BELGIUM > Sophie Faguet / Jonas Gerckens > SILVER
Arrival time 02:26 am

3rd > TEAM AUSTRALIA > Liz Wardley / Alberto Sonino > BRONZE
Arrival time 02:43 am

4th > TEAM FRANCE > Mathilde Geron / Pierre Leboucher
Arrival time 02:48 am

5th > TEAM SPAIN > Ana Santamaria / Guillermo Altadill
Arrival time 03:07 am

6th > TEAM USA > Barbara Karpinska / Peter Beker
Arrival time 04:57 am

7th > TEAM ITALY > Giovanna Valsecchi / Andrea Pendibene
Arrival time 08:29 am

The Live Tracking of the races will be available online at:
Inshore Race – www.ssi.events/tracking-nastrorosa-inshore
Offshore Race – www.ssi.events/tracking-nastrorosa-offshore

Event details – Twitter – Facebook