Thermal winds to the rescue on the fourth competition day here at the 2018 IFCA Grand Prix Croatia – JYM European Championships. The first eliminations for Youth and Men were completed in winds from 11 to 14 knots.
Enrico Marotti currently leads the Men’s division. “I am happy to be back on the race course after my ankle injury, on one side I still feel a little pain but that does not slow me down. I was expecting these championships to be difficult with the light forecast, I was ready to fight, I feel great and powerful and was able to use that. Tomorrow is another day and I will give my all. [more]It’s definitely not easy with top athletes such as the French gang Basile Jaquin and Jimmy Thiemme, the Italians Bruno Martini and Marco Begalli. And not to forget our own light wind specialist Luka Mratovic. So the level is quite high and it definitely does not come easy, but I try to enjoy every moment. Also I did not have the opportunity to race for a while now and I now realize how much I missed it. I enjoy racing even more now, especially here at home.”
The tension builds up between the top Youth competitors. Damien Arnoux winner of the first elimination also qualified himself for the A final of the second elimination. The biggest upset today in the Youth division was during the second A Final where 3 top competitors challenged each other so much that they made an over early start. Ennio dal Pont, Francesco Scagliola and Aron Etmon are no longer sailing in the A Final of elimination 2.
The 2018 Youth Slalom World Champion Damien Arnoux aims for the 2018 IFCA Youth European Title: “It is already my 3rd year that I am coming to Bol and I know that this spot can deliver great sailing conditions for slalom racing. We were a bit unlucky with the conditions until today as we were able to compete in somewhat better winds. I am happy to have won the first elimination, because everyone is pushing and the racing is super close at some times. Now I will focus on the next elimination, hoping that we can eventually continue racing tomorrow to be able to accomplish 3 full eliminations, so we can receive a discard.”
2017 IFCA Female European and Grand Prix Croatia Champion Brigita Viilop is well prepared: “I have been windsurfing as much as I can for the past few weeks in Estonia, including some gym time and jogging sessions and that is was pretty much it.
The conditions here are perfect, I can’t complain, I am having a great championship and it ain’t so hard at all.”
The conditions here are perfect, I can’t complain, I am having a great championship and it ain’t so hard at all.”
Live Score | Men – Youth – Women
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