Tara Pacheco from the Canary Islands and Florian Trittel from Barcelona have shown that they know how to read both the wind and the waves of Lanzarote better than anyone else on the Canary Islands regatta course. The Spanish duo formed by Diego Botín from Cantabria and Iago López from Galicia also lead in the 49er class. Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barceló managed to climb 7 positions, which allowed them to reach the Nacra podium on Tuesday.
Andrés Barrios from the Canary Islands and Antonio Torrado from Alicante, as well as Elías Aretz from Gran Canaria and Albert Torres from the Balearic Islands, won the last day of qualifying races, among the 25 who will be part of the group that will compete for the gold medal.
This Tuesday the conditions on the Lanzarote regatta course favoured the Spanish Olympic team, who demonstrated - in the Canary Islands waters - that they are more than ready for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. A light veil of haze, so characteristic of the islands that covered the three regatta courses, made visibility difficult. But this was not an impediment for the favourite duo formed by Tara Pacheco from Gran Canaria and Florian Trittel from Barcelona to snatch first place from the Germans, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer, after an intense dispute. Tara and Florian took first place in the second leg; however, on the third lap, the Germans made a miscalculation, confusing the offset with the first mark. "The truth is that the day has been shorter, we have had 3 very good races with 10-11 knots and spectacular conditions," said Pacheco. The European Olympic pass is now in Finland with Sinem Kurtbay and Janne Jarvine in seventh place.
Even the 49ers got out of the water first, completing the three races very quickly, with ideal conditions in the Campo Bravo (for the 49er and FX). The wind decided to calm down and blow with an intensity of between 12 and 15 knots, while the sea seemed to have taken a bow to allow the 49ers to advance at full speed, with very little waves, and especially giving way to the Cantabrian Diego Botín and the Galician Iago López, who managed to do a hat-trick, finishing first in the three races. "Fantastic wind and wave conditions that have made 3 firsts doing very well," claimed coach Pepe Lis. In this class, Ireland holds the Olympic pass with Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove in third place.
In addition, the Canarian sailors won the last day of qualifying trials, as from tomorrow only the best 25 in the men's 49er and women's 49er FX classes will compete for gold, including the representatives of the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria, Andrés Barrios from Gran Canaria and Antonio Torrado from Alicante, as well as Elías Aretz from Gran Canaria and Albert Torres from the Balearic Islands, who are competing for the Real Club Nàutico de Palma.
In the third Olympic sailing category, the women's 49er FX class, Galician Tamara Echegoyen and Mallorcan Paula Barceló, who will represent Spain in Tokyo, managed to climb from 16th to ninth place, an incredible feat that once again opens up the possibility of a podium finish. In first place are the Brazilians, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, Olympic gold medallists at Rio 2016, so they will be direct rivals of the Spaniards in Tokyo. Among the European countries, Croatia is aiming for Tokyo with Enia Nincevic and Mihaela Zjena in seventh.
Text Credits: Lanzarote International Regatta
Photo Credits: Sailing Energy / Lanzarote International Regatta