Szabo and Iverson Lead Star Europeans After Medemblik Opener

26th August 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Opening shot — Robert Scheidt and Austin Sperry race to victory in the first contest of the 2026 Star European Championship at Medemblik Credit: Matias Capizzano

American pair George Szabo and George Iverson have taken the early lead at the 2026 Star European Championship in Medemblik after two contrasting opening-day races on the IJsselmeer. An eighth followed by a second gave the US crew the most consistent scoreline among the 76 teams from more than 20 nations, putting them ahead overnight after Wednesday's opening exchanges.

Hiking hard — Jack Jennings and Andrew Palfrey work their Star through the IJsselmeer conditions on the opening day of the 2026 European Championship in Medemblik. Photo: Matias Capizzano

Five-time Olympic medallist Robert Scheidt of Brazil and 2008 US Olympian Austin Sperry made the strongest start to the championship, leading the first race from the opening beat to the finish.

The Star fleet began racing in an easterly breeze of around 12–13 knots, with warm temperatures, blue skies and sunshine providing unusually benign Medemblik conditions.

Close quarters — Star crews battle for position in a tightly packed fleet as the opening day produced two tactical races in changing easterly breezes. Photo: Matias Capizzano

As the opening race progressed, the breeze eased to around seven to eight knots. Scheidt and Sperry adapted to the changing conditions to take the first gun ahead of Germany's Hubert Merkelbach and Markus Koy, with two-time Star World Champion Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi of Italy third.

Lighter Breeze Shuffles Fleet

The second race was sailed in a lighter easterly of around seven knots and produced a significant reshuffle among the leading crews.

Star-studded start — The 76-boat international fleet stretches across the IJsselmeer as the 2026 Star European Championship gets underway in sunshine at Medemblik. Photo: Matias Capizzano

Scheidt and Sperry, along with Negri and Lambertenghi, were caught deep in the fleet at the first windward mark after difficult opening beats. Scheidt and Sperry recovered strongly to 12th, a result that leaves them third overall after two races.

Denmark's Jørgen Schoenherr and Britain's Ed Wright made the most of the lighter conditions to win the second race. Szabo and Iverson took second, while Michael Schulz and Andriy Shafranyuk completed the race podium in third.

Consistency Puts Americans Ahead

With no discard yet in play, Szabo and Iverson's 8,2 scoreline puts them at the head of the provisional standings.

Schoenherr and Wright are second overall following their second-race victory, with Scheidt and Sperry holding third after combining their opening win with their 12th-place recovery.

The championship continues Thursday, with two more races scheduled. The forecast calls for continued sunshine and a slightly stronger breeze on the IJsselmeer.

Published in Star

Tagged under

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

The Star keelboat is a 6.9 metres (23 ft) one-design racing keelboat for two people designed by Francis Sweisguth in 1910.

The Star was an Olympic keelboat class from 1932 through to 2012, the last year keelboats appeared at the Summer Olympics at which Ireland's representatives were Peter O'Leary and David Burrows.

Ireland has performed well in the class internationally thanks to some Olympic campaigns including a bronze medal at the Star World Championships in 2000, won by Mark Mansfield and David O'Brien.

The boat is sloop-rigged, with a mainsail larger in proportional size than any other boat of its length. Unlike most modern racing boats, it does not use a spinnaker when sailing downwind. Instead, when running downwind a whisker pole is used to hold the jib out to windward for correct wind flow.

Early Stars were built from wood, but modern boats are of fibreglass and carbon construction.

The boat must weigh at least 671 kg (1,479 lb) with a maximum total sail area of 26.5 m2 (285 sq ft).

The Star class pioneered an unusual circular boom vang track, which allows the vang to effectively hold the boom down even when the boom is turned far outboard on a downwind run.

Another notable aspect of Star sailing is the extreme hiking position adopted by the crew and at times the helmsman, who normally use a harness to help hang low off the windward side of the boat with only their lower legs inside.