Balearic sailors make a solid debut at the 49er, FX and Nacra 17 European Championship

The crew formed by Joan Cardona, from the Real Club Náutico de Palma, and Nicole van der Velden sits 12th in Nacra 17 after the first day, while European 49er champions Martín and Jaime Wizner and 49er FX world runners-up Paula Barceló, from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, and María Cantero also made a solid start and remain in contention.

The 49er, 49er FX and Nacra 17 European Championship began on Tuesday, July 7th, in Eckernförde, Germany, with an opening day marked by medium-to-strong winds. The 49er FX and Nacra 17 classes completed three races, while the 49er fleet sailed two races.

In Nacra 17, where the entire fleet competes in a single group, Joan Cardona, from the RCNP, and Nicole van der Velden are provisionally in 12th place after posting results of 9-13-16.

Cardona, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the Finn class, highlighted the boat’s speed, although he acknowledged that the starts had shaped the day’s results: “We had quite a lot of wind and upwind we felt very comfortable, with good speed, but we didn’t manage to start well in any of the races. We always had to come from behind and on the downwind legs we lost a few positions. In the last race, Nicole fell into the water when we were seventh, and that made us lose a lot of places. Even so, they were three fairly solid races and the important thing is to stay in the fight for the top 10,” said the Balearic skipper.

The second Spanish crew, from the 2032 team and made up of Dani and Nora García de la Casa from CN El Masnou, is in 28th place after the first day.

With the 49er and 49er FX fleets divided into qualifying groups, the provisional standings are still not very representative, although the Spanish crews have already made a strong first impression.

The 49er class, with 97 boats divided into three groups, saw a solid debut from the reigning European champions, Martín and Jaime Wizner from RCN Vigo, who recorded a fifth and a sixth place to finish among the best Spanish crews of the day. They are 13th overall.

Also worthy of note was the start made by the young sailors from the 2032 team. Ian Walker, from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, and Zsombor Denes from RCN Gran Canaria finished seventh and fifteenth in their races in the blue group. Meanwhile, brothers Alex and Pol Marsans from CN Arenys de Mar ended the day with results of 9-8 in the red group.

Finally, Conrad Konitzer from CNA and Anto Torrado from RCN Torrevieja will not compete in this European Championship, as Konitzer continues to recover from the back injury he suffered during the World Championship.

In the women’s skiff, Spain’s main reference point, world runners-up Paula Barceló from CNA and María Cantero from RCN Gran Canaria, completed a day in which they spent much of the races near the front, although they were unable to consolidate those positions by the finish. They are 13th overall.

Their coach, Xabi Fernández, assessed the opening day as follows: “They sailed well, although the reality is that they could have had three good races. They were around fifth or sixth place, but things became complicated for them on the downwind legs and on the second upwind they couldn’t consolidate the position they had, finishing with two eighths and a ninth. It wasn’t a great day, but it’s not a disaster either.”

The Basque coach is confident about the development of the championship, which still has one or two days of qualifying ahead before the fleets are divided into gold and silver groups: “Tomorrow’s conditions should be similar, with the same intensity and a slightly different direction. There is a group of five or six very solid crews, but the championship is long and the goal is to keep improving.”

The young sailors from the 2032 team, Stella Maris Enríquez from RCN Vigo and Nicola Sadler from CNA, made a commendable debut with results of 14-24-4, placing them 28th. Alicia Fras and Elena Barrio from RCN Gran Canaria are in 32nd place after scoring 20-16-10, while Pati Suárez from RCN Vigo and Melania Henke from RCNP are currently 37th, with results of 10-20-22.

The work of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and its national teams, including the pre-Olympic team and the 2032 team, is made possible thanks to the support of a strong ecosystem of institutions and companies committed to sailing, the sport that has brought Spain the most Olympic gold medals.

The RFEV is sponsored by Iberdrola, Quirónprevención and Loterías y Apuestas del Estado. Its institutional sponsors are the Consejo Superior de Deportes, the Spanish Olympic Committee and Universo Mujer, together with the Port Authority of Santander and the Government of Cantabria through the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport, Deporte Cantabria and the Regional Society for Culture and Sport. Its official suppliers are Azul Marino, Nippon Express, Murimar Seguros, Marinepool and Enovis, with ADESP and World Sailing acting as institutional collaborators.