The UK catamaran pairing that set the fastest cross-channel time between Northern Ireland and Scotland in September have become European Champions in the mixed Nacra 17 class.

Great Britain's Anna Burnet and John Gimson clinched the title at a light-weather edition of the championships in Vilamoura, Portugal this week. 

The Tokyo 2020 silver medallists took an early lead at the regatta in Portugal but then fell down to third.

A strong performance on day five helped them back into top spot and they won after no racing was possible on the sixth day because of a lack of breeze.

"It was a bit of an anticlimax not getting any racing on the final day," said Burnet.

It is the pair's second time won the European title, having also claimed victory in 2021.

"Where we've got to as a team now means we have the ability to debrief really well and quickly figure out what we need to do to get better. That's something we did well this regatta."

As regular Afloat readers will know, the Olympic Catamaran medalists smashed the cross-channel record time between Ireland and Scotland in a time of  1hr 30 minutes 41 seconds, beating the 1995 record set by Ian Wilson and the late Johnny Mullan of Ballyholme Yacht Club in a Tornado catamaran in 1 hr 41 minutes 28 seconds.

The Olympic Nacra 17 catamaran class have issued a statement following a safety incident that occurred in training just before this week's Sailing World Cup in Enoshima, Japan. The statement (below) was issued by Irish sailor Marcus Spillane who is President of the International Nacra 17 Class Association.

A Nacra 17 crew was struck by the rudder and elevator resulting in a cut. The crew was immediately rescued by a coach in attendance where a tourniquet was applied to stem the bleeding and steps were taken to counter any infectious matter.

The coach then brought the sailor to shore where they were then brought, by ambulance, to the local hospital. World Sailing, along with the Japanese Sailing Federation had a safety plan in place, including translation services, which worked well. The sailor was given immediate medical attention. After a few hours the sailor was released from hospital, and after overnight rest and recovery they have decided to sail in the regatta. The injuries amounted to a cut to the leg that did not require stitches and bruising.

The Nacra 17 Class was made aware of the foil strike incident overnight. Safety is a core value of the Class, and we are working diligently to reduce the risks and consequences of sailing incidents in the Nacra 17.

Over the last 20 months the Class:

• has recommended that Nacra Sailing consider, in the short term, removing the torpedo on the elevator and making the leading edge more blunt, and/or replacing the current elevators to blunter elevators built without a torpedo
• has led a joint working party made up of sailors, the Class executive, and Nacra Sailing to develop long term improvements to safety through re-engineering elements of the Nacra 17 design. The most promising of these options are currently being tested.
• set up a safety working party to look into how to reduce the number of foil strikes and to minimize their severity. One of the items this WP brought forward was in the training of coaches for first aid incidents, and training was run for coaches prior to the 2019 Europeans specifically in how to apply a tourniquet, among other items.
• The Class is liaising with World Sailing on an ongoing basis with respect to safety plans, best practices and the reporting of these incidents in a consistent manner
• The Class has researched and commissioned cut protective pants from a company who specialize in cut protective clothing. These pants will be delivered to sailors in Auckland at the 2019 World Championships
• The Class is engaged with safety personnel from SailGP, GC32 and America’s Cup to ensure we adopt, and are informed of, current best practices, where applicable

The Class is looking at safety on three fronts: Avoidance, Engineering, and Personal Protection.

Avoidance is the removal of the threat. In this area we have focused on reducing the risk of man overboard situations through improved trapezing systems and improved maintenance practices.

On the engineering front, we have recommended to Nacra Sailing seven cascading and cooperative measures to reduce the frequency and consequences of man overboard situations. Nacra Sailing is working through the development of these options and has begun testing on the first and more promising options.

On the personal protective equipment front, we have commissioned custom cut protective pants from a company that specializes in cut protective clothing for athletes. These suits are currently being manufactured and will be delivered to the entire fleet prior to the 2019 World Championships in Auckland.

All sailors should review the following blog post previously issued after an incident last year.

The Nacra 17 Class will continue to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our sailors. It is an ongoing and continual process.

A Danish crew man, CP Lubeck, fell overboard and was struck by the rudder foil of his Nacra 17 while racing in New Zealand yesterday. 

The injury required surgery. Lubeck is recovering well and will be back in action soon, according to Irish man Marcus Spillane, the President, of the International Nacra 17 Class Association.

Spillane adds 'We have been in contact with World Sailing and Nacra Sailing and are investigating the facts. This is a priority for the Class'.