Italian 29er National Regatta at Circolo Vela Arco
by Elena Giolai 27 May 19:47 UTC
24-26 May 2024
In July the 29er class will be at Circolo Vela Arco for the Youth World Championships, so the regatta which concluded today was a great test opportunity for 8 nations.
Over the weekend just gone, conditions were very varied with the first two days characterised by medium-light southerly winds and bad weather, and Sunday, when racing took place early in the morning, with sunshine and a constant northerly wind of 14-15 knots for a splendid conclusion. There were nine races in total, with the gold fleet grouped on the last day with the best 38 in the fleet racing in four final races.
Overall victory with a wide margin was by the locals Alex Demurtas and Giovanni Santi, who maintained constant scores until the end. They had a good 9 points lead over their opponents, Giuseppe Montesano and Enrico Coslovich, winners of the under 17 category and second overall: for them an excellent regatta considering their young age and the fact that the next U17 category runners-up came 18 places behind.
Third overall and first under 21 were Alessio and Walter Bonizzoni from Lake Garda, who were more at ease in the medium-light wind of the first two days.
In the under-19 women's category, Victoria Demurtas and Caroline Karlsen (twelfth overall) were the first among the most likely candidates to take part in the World Sailing World Championship; among the under-17s, victory went to the Swiss pair Rüegge-Wicki.
There was a decidedly international top ten with 5 nations competing for the podium with Switzerland, Holland, the Czech Republic and Ireland, as well as Italy.
Full results here