PORTUGAL. Vilamoura: The 470 European Championships recently concluded in Vilamoura, Portugal, where 81 teams from 25 countries competed with each other in the men’s, women’s, and the new mixed fleets for the respective European Champion titles.
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The Championships
34 out of the 40 Tokyo Olympic teams participated in the men’s and women’s championships, along with a very strong mixed fleet in the first ever Mixed 470 European Championship held by the Class. The 6th and last day of the 470 – 2021 European Championship ended in Medal Race “Mode”. Only the top 10 teams on each fleet sailed the Medal Race and the best 60 sailors were out in Vilamoura waters, fighting for the podium positions.
The Results in details
The 470 European Championship 2021 came to its end with Nitai Hasson and Saar Tamir from Israel were the European Champions by winning the Mixed Fleet. Theres Dahnke and Matti Cipra from Germany followed them in the 2nd Place while Vita Heathcote and Ryan Orr from GBR secured 3rd Place.
In the Men’s Fleet, Kevin Peponnet and Jeremie Mion from France were the European Champions while Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez from Spain came second. Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom from Sweden came third in the championships.
In the Women’s fleet, again Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz from France were the European Champions. Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre from GBR secured 2nd position while Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler from Switzerland came third.
In the ‘Open European Championship’, Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox from New Zealand won.
Change of venue
Earlier, the Int. 470 Class Association announced a change in venue of the 2021 470 European Championship scheduled at Hyères, France. This was done following a difficult situation arising out of COVID-19 related restrictions in France. Subsequently, the venue of the 470 European Championship shifted to Vilamoura, Portugal.
About ‘World Sailing’ and its origin
‘World Sailing’ is the Global Governing Body for the sports of sailing. It was originally created to regularise a uniform set of rules and measurement standards for ‘Sailing’ as a sport on a global level. World Sailing was created in Paris in October 1907. Initially called, the ‘International Yacht Racing Union’ (IYRU), the name was changed on August 5, 1996, to the ‘International Sailing Federation’ (ISAF) and later to ‘World Sailing’ in the year 2015. ‘World Sailing’ is officially recognized by the ‘International Olympic Committee’ (IOC).
About the 470
The 470 is an Olympic Class Dinghy recognized by ‘World Sailing’. Sailed by both men and women, it was designed as a modern fiberglass planing dinghy in 1963 by a French Naval Architect named André Cornu. The name comes from the overall length of the boat in centimeters. The boat is 4.70 meters long and the hull is made of fiberglass with integral buoyancy tanks.
The International 470 Class was awarded International Status by the ‘International Yacht Racing Union’ in 1969 and it first featured in Montreal Olympics in 1976. Currently, sixty nations use the ‘The 470’ boat for men’s women’s dinghy in different sailing events and this is also used in the Olympic Games.
Six days of amazing sailing at the 2021 470 European Championship in Vilamoura allowed every sailor to take a shot at the titles before the start of the Summer Olympic Games at Enoshima, Japan. Sailing competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are scheduled to take place from July 25 to August 4, 2021, at the Enoshima Yacht Harbor in Enoshima, Japan.
In the meantime, Italy will host the 2021 470 Junior World Championships and the 2021 420 Junior European Championship plus the 2021 470 Master’s Cup in July and August.
