Jerwood and de Vries Ninth at European Champs
Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries have sailed to a ninth placed finish at the 470 European Championships in San Remo.
With weather conditions forcing cancellation of a number of qualifying races, the WA pair earned a spot in the medal race off the back of two podium finishes and another fifth placed effort.
Their hopes of pushing for a stronger overall result were thwarted however when they broke the line in the medal race earning a disqualification.
The mistake was a costly one, particularly with fewer races meaning a tighter leaderboard. They were in the mix for a top eight position which would have qualified them for the Australian Sailing Team (AST).
Ultimately however they will leave Italy knowing that their best racing is competitive with the world’s best. And in a year built on chasing Olympic qualification, that is half the battle.
In the men’s 470 class, Chris Charlwood and Josh Dawson had a tough campaign. They struggled to punch out of mid-fleet throughout and finished 31st overall on 82 points.
Australians Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan claimed victory in a dominant display that saw them win five of a possible seven races.
Meanwhile, racing has commenced at the 49er and 49erFX European Championships which are being contested in Weymouth, home of the London 2012 Olympic sailing course.
David and Lachy Gilmour have given themselves plenty of work to do in the 49er fleet, with the WA brothers currently 41st overall on 78 points, well adrift of the top 10 medal round standings.
Caitlin Elks and her skipper Amelia Stabback are 28th in the 49erFX and will similarly need some strong results to crash into the top 10 at the pointy end of the week.
There are plenty of races left in both classes however, so there is time to turn it around.