Two Irish crews who led the international fleet this summer are among the favourites of the top 29er teams across Europe that have made their way to Lake Garda to contest for the coveted overall EuroCup title 2023 on Sunday.
The first is a new comnibation, made up of Dun Laoghaire Harbour sailors Clementine Van Steenberge from the National Yacht Club and Jessica Riordan of the Royal St. George Yacht Club.
With Clementine fresh from winning the Overall and Open World Championship title in August in Great Britain, where she raced with her brother Nathan, this team will certainly be one to watch, according to class pundits.
The second, composed of the Cork-Dublin combination of Ben O'Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain, who dominated the European Championship held in Stockholm in mid-August and will be looking to find their form again and finish the season with a win.
170 of the top 29er teams across Europe are on Lake Garda for the competition.
Fraglia Vela Riva, in the north of the stunning Lake Garda, once again hosts the hotly contested Ovington 29er Eurocup Final in collaboration with the International 29er Class Association.
The eleventh and final event of the 2023 29er EuroCup series, it is now considered an end-of-season classic by the specialists of this dynamic double-handed dinghy, who are accustomed to racing on these Italian waters for the seasonal finale.
Appreciated among many youth sailors who choose to step into this boat after various junior classes, the 29er Class is extremely widespread at the international level. With more than fifteen nations represented in Riva del Garda, competition begins on Sunday 22nd, until Wednesday, the 25th of October and sailors hope to complete 14 races in spectacular conditions, after which the season's EuroCup Champions will be crowned.
Also faniced are the home team, Italians Alex Demurtas and Giovanni Santi, who have been at the front of the fleet for a couple of years, winning third in the 2023 World Championships and sit in sixth in the 29er EuroCup overall ranking. Czech team Lukas Kraus and Ondrej Bastar, currently lead the overall series on the eve of this regatta, and with the 2023 Youth Worlds scheduled to take place in December, many of the top teams will be using this event as part of their final preparations.
"The 29er class always brings with it important numbers, a particularly competitive climate and a heterogeneous fleet from the point of view of origin. Hosting the last event of the season, the one that decides the fate of the circuit, now represents a long-standing tradition for the Fraglia Vela Riva, where this youth, double-handed, high-performance skiff is has reached a standard which is impossible to ignore," declared Mauro Berteotti, Sports Director of Fraglia Vela Riva.
Racing begins at midday.
