SO HOT IN SOPOT!

It’s been a fantastic long weekend of competition here at Sopot, Poland, where 55 young sailors from 4 different countries came to test themselves against the other best-in-class racers at round 2 of the 2019 O’pen Skiff EuroChallenge, after an opening round in Palermo, Sicily, and before the final round at Mandelieu on the Cote d’Azur of southern France later this year.

After the challenging, light winds of the opening day, conditions improved quickly and the second and third days of racing went off without problem, the race committee having no trouble hitting their target of 10 races for each of the two fleets, U13 and U17.

Despite the improved conditions, no single sailor was able to establish a significant lead, meaning that pretty much all was still up for grabs going into the final rounds of racing.

The U13 class was especially close, with the overall lead changing hands several times during the competition. In the end it was local boy Maksymilian Betlejewski who managed to edge out the two chasing Itailans, Giovanni Arciprete and Domenico Pio Schiano di Scioarro, who was leading after day one. Big up to Polish girl sailor Liwia Liszkiewicz, who pushed the boys all the way to the end, finishing in 4thplace overall.

In the U17, it was Italy’s Manuel De Felice who managed the consistency needed for a deserved victory, never finishing lower than 6th. He was followed by the local hero and first day leader Kacper Bąk, with Hungary’s Balazs P.Szoloayer taking third place, ahead of the German, Frederic Schuele, and the best placed girl sailor, Italy’s Alessia Tiano.

The O’pen Skiff EuroChallenge has been very regional so far, and with just one more round to go there’s nobody holding a significant lead that could assure them of being EuroChallenge Champion 2019. So, it’s still everything to play for going into the final round in Mandelieu, south of France, later this summer. Should be an exciting weekend with all the titles still wide open.

O’pen Skiff continues to be as a dynamic sailing class for youngsters, and a perfect step-up for any young sailor wanting to make it their passion, and take it to another level later.

Big thanks to the Sopot Sailing Club, the city of Sopot and the title event sponsor ERGO Hestia for their excellent organisation and execution of this EuroChallenge event.

You can follow all the action and results from all 3 rounds of the 2019 Bic O’pen Skiff EuroChallenge at the official event website at: https://eurochallenge2019.openskiff.org

U13 Overall
1 Maksymilian Betlejewski POL
2 Giovanni Arciprete ITA
3 Domenico Pio Schiano di Scioarro ITA
4 Liwia Liszkiewicz POL
5 Jan Suchocki POL