One hundred and one teams are gathered in Nieuwpoort, Belgium for the 2011 420 Junior European Championship, with an impressive line up of 20 nations striving to deliver their best performances on the North Sea. Held consecutively with the 2011 470 Junior European Championships, the event is a great opportunity to bring both fleets together and support the transition across the classes. Representing Queensland and Australia are champion 420 pair Angus Galloway and Alex Gough.
Day 1
On Day one the race committed managed to get through two races in challenging conditions that saw 2 metre waves and a strong breeze that settled at around 20 – 25knots. Finding their groove the young Australian team muscled the 100 strong fleet to lead after the first two heats, Galloway said, “We have just been training since the ISAF Youth Worlds. It was good to finally have some wind to race in, although tomorrow looks to be a bit lighter.” Whilst the Aussies couldn’t have asked for a better opening day, at the moment they are mindful of the need to get through the qualifying series in a good position, and then approach the battle for the top places. “Originally our plan for the summer in Europe was to peak for Kieler Woche and then the Youth Worlds, but we are now focused on getting a top 10 result here too – it would be great to finish off our campaign with that.” Galloway admitted that the temperatures of northern Europe have been a bit of a shock compared to the sunshine of their more familiar sailing waters in Brisbane. However the team did compare the waves and wind to a similar sailing venue in Queensland Keppel Bay.
Day 2
There were many thrills and spills had on another day of tough conditions in Nieuwpoort, Belgium. With a very confused sea state and 18-22 knots on the 420 race course, the wind direction had changed 90 degrees compared to yesterday making a wind against tide affect that bumped the swell up.The more experienced and heavier 420 sailors thrived in the wind and waves, although many teams fell victim to the challenging conditions.
Day 3
Day three and racing got underway in around 15-20knots. The discard coming into play after race 5, delivered overall equal points to the top two teams after the end of the qualification series, with Guillaume Pirouelle/Valentin Sipan (FRA) and Galloway and Gough on 7 points each; advantage France on count back. “It was a good day, another windy one,” said Galloway, before adding, “but it then lightened off up the first beat and went kind of fluky, dropping from 15-20 to 10-15 knots in the first right. It then picked up about five minutes before race 6. he continued to say“ It was a really roly swell today with waves a little bit further apart than yesterday and a little bit easier to sail through.”
All top teams are in a strong position going into the final series, but as Gough highlighted, “we are only halfway through and the event effectively starts again from Friday.” The 420 fleet is now split into gold, silver and bronze for the finals. “We can expect much closer racing now, and you won’t be able to recover as well from any mistakes because all the boats will be a lot better in the gold fleet and there won’t be any second chances,” concluded Galloway. The team now gets a well deserved break before the final two days racing here in Belgium.
Andrew Gough
Yachting Queensland