ABERDEEN RACING ACADEMY
Special Edition 29er EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Introduction
The ARA 29er team, (although a little diminished as most schools have now returned after the summer holidays) have completed the summer event calendar in Quiberon, France at the 29er European Championships. Two of our youngest teams competed at the event, Malo/Anatole and Karrie/Akira. They hoped to continue to build on their fast improving skills and experiences from the 29er US Nationals and Worlds earlier this summer.
There were 179 entries from 21 different nations represented at the Championships, the group was split into four fleets throughout the competition.
Our Facebook page has been updated regularly so you can see how the team have progressed.
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Qualifying Series
After the jury threw out the last race on the Charley course on day 1, ½ the fleet were sent to sea at 9:30am to re-sail race 3 in a solid 8 knots, this affected both Malo/Anatole and Karrie/Akira, this was to Malo and Anatole's advantage as the boys came away with their first win of the championships. All fleets then completed 3 races in 6-10 knots of steady breeze. Race 5 saw Karrie/Akira come away with their first win while Anatole/Malo finished 7th. A great days racing for both teams.
After early morning starts for the first 2 days, the 179 boat fleet was informed of a 2pm start, enabling the wind to build. Sent to the two courses on Quiberon Bay, the fleets battled in 3 races to finalise qualifying and the fleet splits into the finals. The overall results after the first 9 races meant that Karrie/Akira were lying in 15th position and Malo/Anatole were 19th. Both teams had qualified into the gold fleet.
Finals
Going into the first day of the finals with a shifting breeze of 8 - 13 knots 3 races were sailed off of Quiberon Bay. Karrie/Akira had a good start finishing their first race in 6th place, Malo/Anatole finished 15th. By the end of the day there was some disappointment in the Karrie/Akira camp, however a team talk hopefully helped for day 5.
The wind decided to take a long break on Saturday, not showing up until around 5pm when the fleet was finally released to Quiberon Bay. Both courses managed to squeak in 2 races in the slowly building breeze, which never topped 8 knots but was just enough. Karrie/Akira won their first race but disappointingly had a U Flag, Malo/Anatole finished 3rd. Not to be beaten though Karrie/Akira came back fighting and won the 2nd race. Malo/Anatole finished 16th.
An early start for the last day in the hope that there would be enough breeze to complete 4 races. Sadly though this was not to be the case, meaning there could be only one discard for the final series. One race was eventually completed Karrie/Akira finished 15th and Malo/Anatole finished 39.
Overall Results were outstanding for both of our young teams, Anatole/Malo finished 15th, they were the only under 15 team in Gold fleet. Karrie/Akira finished 16th, this was Karrie's 2nd 29er event and she was the youngest helm in Gold fleet. Both teams have an enormous amount to be proud of. Well done.
The final results can be found below:
Upcoming Events
ABC's 50th Anniversary Dinghy Opening Regatta.
THE FAST BOAT EVENT HAS NOW BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO TYPHOON HATO DAMAGE - NEW DATES 7TH AND 8TH OCTOBER.
http://www.abclubhk.com/events/OR2017_Dinghy_9-10Sep.aspx
The Notice of Race can be found at:
Youth World Selection Events
7th and 8th October - ABC Regatta
21st and 22nd October - HKSF selection event.
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Aberdeen Boat Club
Email: dinghycoach@abclubhk.com
Website: http://www.abclubhk.com
Location: Aberdeen Boat Club Ltd., 20 Shum Wan Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Phone: 852 2552 8182
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