With 12 races for the 29er class and 7 races for the Nacra 15 class, the 2024 High Performance Grand Prix has come to an end.
The High Performance Grand Prix, held between September 19-22 at the Balatonfüredi Yacht Club, has concluded. On the fourth day of the event, races were planned to start even earlier than Saturday, but the 8:30 AM warning signal was delayed due to winds blowing in patches and from different directions. The pleasant sailing conditions did not last long on the final day either, as the wind weakened during the first race and eventually died down. Despite the light winds, two races were held for the 29er class and three for the Nacra 15 class.
In the 29er fleet, the podium positions changed once again. The pair of Emília Juhász and Boróka Lacza, who were leading on Saturday, dropped one position after finishing 6th and 8th in the final races. Meanwhile, the duo of Soma Kis-Szölgyémi and András Juhász excelled, winning one race and finishing second in another, which brought them into the overall lead. The day's losers were Boróka Fehér and Szonja Fehér, who fell from the second to fourth overall. Mór Csekovszky and Martin Zarándy secured the bronze medal.
After the second race, a postponement followed, and due to the hopeless wind conditions, results had to be declared after 12 races.
Emília Juhász, the overall runner-up in the 29er class and the top female skipper, reflected on the competition:
“We are satisfied, despite not doing well in our last, decisive race... We finished second in both the championship and the Euro Cup. We sailed in good conditions on the first two days, and we were leading. However, the winds were quite tricky on the last two days, and we were also getting tired, so we couldn't replicate our earlier performance. It was a good race, and we enjoyed being here.”
The event was officially concluded at around 1:00 PM, and the prize giving ceremony was scheduled for 2:00 PM by the organizing club. Thanks to our sponsors, no sailor on the podium left empty-handed. After listening to the national anthem, we invited the competitors for a final ice cream, courtesy of Algida.
Congratulations to everyone! We would like to thank the competitors, their coaches, and supporters for the last four days. We hope they had a great time and look forward to seeing them again soon!
Our partners: Vadnai Bros, EQ Love, Tigris Bistro and Breakfast Café, Fehérvári Optika, Algida.
Supporters of the event: State Secretariat for Sports, National Sports Agency, Sport Nation Program, Hungarian Sailing Association.