420 European Championships

WORDS: ORIANE VOETS | IMAGES: MARCIN JOZEFOWSKI

After a short break following the worlds to rest and visit some of Italy, Sorcha Whyte and I arrived in Formia on 17 July to begin our preparation for the Junior European Championships which were held from 24 to 31 July. The wind conditions were similar everyday with the breeze picking up around 1500hrs allowing us time in the morning for boatwork, fitness and other activities. The training day winds were mostly favorable with some days picking up to 18kits making it lots of fun and great practice and giving us hope that it would be similar for racing days.

Sadly, this was not really the case as we had two days without races and an average of lighter winds throughout the event. The first day of racing was a challenge as we spent eight hours on the water in the sun and heat and only completed one race in unstable conditions. The second and third days were better and three races were completed each in better conditions allowing the team to fight back. However due to an issue with equipment, we lost positions on the third day.

The fourth day was disappointing as the wind never came and we were sent home with no races completed. Following this disappointment, the race committee scheduled three races for the fifth day and this proved difficult as both teams were sent onto different race courses with only one coach between the two. Following multiple recalls and black flags in the second and third race (27 out of 56 in the 3rd race were disqualified following a recall), we got home around 2100hrs. The last day was again a disappointment as no races were completed and we were sent back after five hours of waiting on the water.

This event concluded our time in Italy and I think that I can speak for the entire team when saying that it was a great time and we learnt a lot. We would like to thank our coach in Europe Marcin, our Hong Kong coaches Calum Gregor and Marc Chapon and the parents for making this possible.