STAR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2020
PIET ECKERT (SUI) WITH FREDERICO MELO (POR) WITH A SOLID LEAD AFTER FOUR TIGHT RACE
Day Two of the 2020 Star European Championship started early in the morning and finished before lunch time, with two very tight races sailed with the local North wind ‘Peler’ going strong from 15 knots at 9am to a light 4/5 knots around noon. Little shifts and a few adjustments of the racecourse didn’t affect fair racing, also guaranteed by the Fraglia Verla Riva International Committee lead by PRO Giancarlo Crevatin.
After a general recall the 18 boat international fleet started and the Austrian Olympians Hans Spitzauer with Christian Nehammer rapidly got ahead and were the first to round the upwind mark followed by Tonci Stipanovic/Tudor Bilic (CRO) and yacht designer Juan Kouyoumdjian with Fernando Rivero (ARG). The Norwegian 2017 Star World Champion Evind Melleby with Martin Hejlsberg wasn’t far behind though, and, thanks to one of his excellent downwind, he managed to arrive at the gate in third, kept that position on the second upwind leg and then overtook both Spitzauer/Nehammer and Stipanovic/Bilic, who finished second and third respectively, in the last leg to win Race Three.
The wind was lighter for Race Four, but still quite steady and regular on the course. Swiss Olympian Piet Eckert with Portuguese crew Frederico Melo had a nice start and they were first at the top mark followed by European Champion Diego Negri with Sergio Lambertenghi and Star Class President Hubert Merkelbach with Kilian Weise (GER) in third. And this was the same line up up to the finishing line, confirming Eckert/Melo provisional overall leaders with a six-point margin over Spitzauer/Nehammer, in second, and seven over Juan K/Rivero, in third.
The games are still very open with teams from second to eight closed in eight points and three more races to go between tomorrow and Sunday, November 1st when the 2020 European Championship will be awarded.
