Riva del Garda, October 24, 2024 – Not even a classic gloomy day could prevent the kickoff of the 29er Eurocup Finals, the final stage of the circuit for these high-speed dinghy specialists, hosted by Fraglia Vela Riva. Despite the overcast skies, 130 crews from 15 nations gathered on Lake Garda to compete.
The Ora, the region's characteristic southerly wind, arrived later than expected and weakened quickly. However, a light breeze of 5 to 8 knots remained across the two racecourses, required by the large fleet, which was divided into four groups. Undeterred by the tricky conditions, race committees led by Giancarlo Crevatin and Valentina Bravi, supported by Fraglia Vela Riva staff, successfully completed three races for the red fleet and two races for the blue, white, and green fleets.
After two races across all fleets, the Dutch duo Lenny Hofman and Jules Vidor (finishing 2-1) took an early lead, dominating the white fleet and tying at the top of the overall rankings with Hungarian team Soma Kis-Szölgyémi and András Sámuel Juhász (1-2). The Hungarians, ranked second in the season standings, are poised to overtake the absent Polish leaders, Ewa Lewandowska and Krzysztof Krolik, as the finals progress.
In third place overall are French sailors Jouan Barnabe and Thelio Giannatoni (2-3) from the red fleet, while Polish pair Antonina Puchowska and Mateusz Gasiorowski (5-1) lead the green fleet and rank fourth, with Puchowska recognized as the top female helm so far.
Italy’s top performers after day one are Giuseppe Montesano and Enrico Coslovich (1-5), currently in sixth place, just behind the German brothers Lucas and Moritz Hamm (5-1), who are the leading Under-17 team.
The 29er Eurocup Finals will continue tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., with more qualifying races. Current rankings, based on the two completed races for all fleets, will be used to reshuffle the groups.
For more updates, results, and the official notice board head to : https://www.fragliavelariva.it/en/regattas/eurocup-29er-2024/
