EUROSAF Match Racing, Women’s European Championship

Saturday 15th September saw Silvia Roca and her crew of Fátima Reyes and Lucia Reyes become the 2012 EUROSAF Match Racing, Women’s European Champion, in Santander.

By the time Saturday morning arrived, the semi-finals were already underway, with five of the scheduled races being sailed in excellent conditions on the Friday afternoon. This saw Julie Bossard from France, leading Claire Lasko of Great Britain 2:0, and Caroline Sylvan, Sweden, taking a 2:1 lead over Silvia Roca from Spain. Racing continued at 11:00 on Saturday, with North Easterly winds of 12 - 14 knots and sunny skies. Julie Bossard qualified for the final by beating Claire Lasko in the third and deciding race of the first semi-final, but in the second semi-final, Silvia Roca draw level with Caroline Sylvan by winning the fourth race, making a fifth and final race necessary. In what was a thrilling race, Silvia Roca just beating Caroline Sylvan to win and qualify for the final.

Before the final came the Petit-Final, which saw Caroline Sylvan sailing with Louise Kruuse af Verchou and Frida Langenius, beating Claire Lasko and her crew of Marianthe Evangelidis and Sophie Pearson 2:0, to take the bronze medal. Going into the championship, Claire was the least experienced of all the skippers, having no ISAF ranking, so she did extremely well to qualify for the semi-final.

Silvia Roca and her crew of sisters Fátima Reyes and Lucia Reyes, eventually won the final to become European Champions, in a closely fought series against Julie Bossard and her crew of Pauline Chalaux and Pauline Courtois. Each team won alternate races in the first to three points final, making the fifth race the championship decider. Determined to become European Champion in her home country, Silvia Roca got the better of the start in the fifth and final race and lead throughout all the way to the finish. At no time was Julie more than a few boats lengths away, so there was no room for error on the part of Silvia. In the end she held on to win by a close margin and to realise her ambition of becoming the 2012 EUROSAF Match Racing, Women’s European Champion.

During the prize giving and medal ceremony, which took place in the presence of Gerardo Pombo, President of the Real Federación Española de Vela, Pedro Labat, President of the host club and Julia Casanueva, President of Cantabria Sailing Federation, Silvia Roca, on behalf of the competitors, thanked EUROSAF, the Real Club Maritimo de Santander, the City of Santander and all those involved with organising and hosting the event, for laying on such a splendid championship. She was particularly praising of the race management team, under the direction of Rafa Gonzalez, the event director and said how delighted she was to win the championship in her own country. In reply, Gonzalez thanked the competitors for making the championship such an enjoyable event and said he hoped to see them all at the 2013 EUROSAF Women’s Match Racing Championship in Poland. On behalf of EUROSAF, he thanked the host club and all the volunteers who had worked, both on and off the water, to make the championship such a success.

The 2013 EUROSAF Match Racing, Women’s European Championship takes place in Gdynia, Poland from 17th to 21st July. The Notice of Race will be published in due course.


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