Alonso Brothers Lead After Two Days At The 49er Europeans

Two races were held for the 49er fleet for the first days of qualifying for the European and Youth World Championship.

Recovering from their epic long distance race on Sunday, the 63 boat fleet representing eighteen nations were split into two groups and sent to two courses on Lake Garda with seemingly two separate winds.

The yellow fleet seemed to have the better wind and sailed near the eastern side of the lake, near Torbole. The wind seemed more consistent in strength yet shifty with the sailors still heading to the cliffs off the line. The Alonso brothers of Spain sailed well posting a 1-3 and carrying a first from the previous days long distance race to take the overall lead for the regatta. Also sailing in the yellow fleet, the Polish team of lukasz Przybytek and Pawel Kolodzinski sailed a consistent 2-2 and sit tied for second overall with 13 points.

Third place are Julien D’ortoli and Noé Delpech (FRA) who led the blue fleet with a 4-4 after today’s racing. The blue fleet had much lighter winds and had one race that barely made the time limit as the wind began to die.

Leading the Youth Worlds are Jan Hauke Erichsen and Max Lux (GER) who have been sailing well and posted a 6-11 to put them fifth overall.

Racing began on Sunday with a long distance race that spanned 9 kilometers of the Lake; a tour de Garda with varying conditions and legs of the course. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, the Alonso brothers of Spain outlasted the 63 other teams and crossed the line first followed by the Italian Savio brothers and Croatian Olympians Pavle Kostov and Petar Cupac. 

Racing continues with one more day of qualifying with the top 25 teams advancing to the finals. The top 12 teams from the Olympic Games an automatic invitation to the Gold fleet. The final series will be held in Theatre style with a 4-round knock-out style racing and a Grand Final series to be held on the last day with the final 4 boats.

The top youth team will be crowned 49er Youth World Champions – 33 youth teams are in attendance. Additional titles will go to the “King of the Downwind” as well as the top speed for the entire event. 

Live tracking and daily video will begin on Wednesday with live internet broadcast on the final 2 days.