Byron KOKKALANIS (Greece) - Gold medal RS:X Men European
Championship
This was no easy feat for any of the champions as the
level of all the fleets were very high and most of the windsurfers have had to
give it their whole until the finish of the last race. The weather conditions
kept them on their toes as the wind was shifty and there was no room for
mistake. Everyone was on edge ashore to
find out who would come out first in the event’s ranking and in the European
championship itself.
RS:X Men
Happy day for Greece as Byron Kokkalanis brings the
European Champion title home with an 8 point-lead on delighted Shahar Zubari
from Israel who managed to hold on to the silver medal despite a very tenacious
Pierre Le Coq who in the end settled with bronze. The common thread between the
men on the podium was the large smile on their faces as medals were quite an
achievement after the challenges of this week.
In the overall Open competition, the podium is the same
with Britain’s Olympic medallist Nick Dempsey in 4th. 5th placed Louis Giard
becomes the U21 Class Champion.
RS:X Women
And the winner is….. France! If there was a title hardly
won this week, it was the Women European title. All was to play this morning as
Charline Picon, British Olympic medallist Bryony Shaw and Spain’s Blanca
Manchon took to the water. Finishing 3rd, 5th and 1st of the three medal races,
Charline Picon managed a final 3-point lead in front of Britain’s Bryony Shaw
and kept Spain’s Blanca Manchon 9 points away.
In the overall Open competition, the ranking gives Bryony
Shaw (GB) winner, followed by Charline Picon (FR) 2nd, Blanca Manchon 3rd (SP),
Maayan Davidovich (ISR), 4 th and
Natalia Kosinska (NZ) 5 th. Kamila Smektala from Poland wins the U21 Class
Champion title.
RS:X Youth Boys
In the 2013 Open Youth European Windsurfing Championship,
Argentinian Bautista Saubidet-Brikner who’s won 5 races out of 14 over the week
logically wins the competition. Poland’s Radoslaw Furmanski takes silver only one point ahead
of Bronze medallist, Chun Ting Lee from Hong-Kong.
Artion Javadav from Belarus wins the U17 Class Champion title.
RS:X Youth Girls
The 2013 Open Youth European Windsurfing Championship has
been closely fought by the girls with two races within the race. Gold and
silver medals were one point apart when the day started and it is Israel’s
Hadar Heller who takes gold home with Britain’s Noelle Finch taking silver.
Saskia Sills and her sister Imogen Sills were also one point apart this morning
so there was no sisterly love on the water for bronze. Saskia won two of the
three medal races thus getting on the podium.
Shahar Tibi from Israel wins the U17 Class Champion
title.
RS:One
The RS:One Men and Women raced in the afternoon enjoying
slightly stronger winds and giving France two more European champions.
In the women competition, Lucie Pianazza won 7 races out
of 13 and logically takes gold. Singapore’s Audrey Yong takes silver and bronze
goes to Anne-Claire Girard from France.
It was an epic day for the men competing today for the
title. With a fall at the start of the very last race, Frenchman Hugo
Mollard-Tanguy almost saw his hard work of the week disappear as there are no
discards in RS:One. But thanks to an incredible comeback and his 4th place in
race 13, he managed to save gold and become the 2013 RS:One European Champion
with a stunning 15-point lead over Maxime Abiven. Racing in his home waters,
Abiven managed silver by just one point leaving Tanguy Turpin with the bronze.
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