The second day of competition at the 2023 ILCA Master European Championships in Douarnenez, France, was graced by fantastic sailing conditions.
Moderate winds ranging from 8 to 15 knots, accompanied by gentle waves, permitted the addition of three new races for each fleet, significantly impacting the overall scores.
The day kicked off promptly with the coaches and sailors convening at 09:00, and the first warning signal sounding at 11:00. The first fleet returned to shore around 15:30, followed later by all 5 remaining groups, making it a thoroughly enjoyable day of sailing.
“Yeah well, it looks like I won easily but actually I had to fight a lot. They were sailing very well so only on the last downwind I was able to pass the English that was leading both the last races so yeah, it was quite tight actually” –Wannes Van Laer BEL
One of the highlights today was Wannes Van Laer BEL performance, winning all 3 races in ILCA7 Apprentice Master’s category. The Belgian representative in last Olympic Games is premiering in the Master Europeans. “Yeah well, it looks like I won easily but actually I had to fight a lot. They were sailing very well so only on the last downwind I was able to pass the English that was leading both the last races so yeah, it was quite tight actually”.
In the evening all competitors were served by the club with a special dinner to wrap this second race day in an awesome shape.
A total of 270 Master sailors hailing from 21 nations around the globe are coming together to participate in this competition.
ILCA 6 is the largest fleet with 140 sailors vying for the prestigious European titles in 9 categories:
- Apprentice Master Women European Champion
- Apprentice Master Men European Champion
- Master Women European Champion
- Master Men European Champion
- Grand Master Women European Champion
- Grand Master Men European Champion
- Great Grand Master Women European Champion
- Great Grand Master Men European Champion
- Legend European Champion
ILCA 7 is only for Men and counts with 130 sailors on water pursuing the following 4 titles:
- Apprentice Master European Champion
- Master European Champion
- Grand Master European Champion
- Great Grand Master European Champion
Racing will goes from September 11th to 15th, with 2 races scheduled per day.
Reigning 2022 Master European champions such as Isabelle Arnoux FRA, Helene Viazzo FRA and Jean-Christophe Leydet FRA in ILCA 6, or Jose Luis Doreste ESP and Peter Hurley USA in ILCA 7 are here in France defending their titles.
Previous Master European champions such as Jacques Kerrest USA, Jaap Mazereeuw NED, Poopy Marçon FRA, Jean Philippe Galle FRA, Pierrick Amizet FRA, Jon Emmett GBR, Mike Kinnear GBR, Ian Jones GBR, Jacky Nebrel FRA, Steve Cockerill GBR, Terry Scutcher GBR, Carlos Martinez ESP or Ian Gregory GBR in ILCA 6; and Allan Clark CAN or Alan Davis GBR in ILCA 7 are also some of strong contenders to fight for new medals in Douarnenez.
Master European’s Hall of Fame
How to follow the 2023 ILCA Master Europeans in Douarnenez
Live contents
We are streaming some of the action and races live in our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eurilca/ and YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/eurilcachannel – We suggest you to subscribe and follow us in order to receive instant notifications when we’re live!
News and reports
A daily report with news and results, photos and videos is being published at eurilca.org and in the event website; https://2023-master.eurilca-europeans.org/
Newsletter
You can opt to receive our daily report with news, results and photos in your email, subscribing to our newsletter here: https://eurilca.org/newsletter/
Instant notifications
We have created a Telegram channel that you can join to receive instant communications within the event: https://t.me/ilcamastereu23
Photo galleries
We are pleased to inform you that we are consistently sharing photos on our Smugmug account at https://eurilca.smugmug.com/ILCA-European-Championships/2023-ILCA-Europeans/2023-ILCA-Master-Europeans. All the photos can be downloaded for free and are intended only for editorial use, and specifically related to this event. If you have any other purpose in mind or if you intend to use the photos for commercial use, please reach out to the photographer directly at thomtouw@me.com
Video galleries
We are sharing video highlights and interviews on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/eurilcachannel – We recommend subscribing to our channel to receive instant notifications whenever we upload new content.
More news and contents we are spreading them through our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/eurilca so follow us also there.
Race documents
For further information about the event you can download the Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions and other documents here: https://eurilca.eu/event/277/documents
Event website
All the information and links to the different contents mentioned before you can also find them at the official event website: https://2023-master.eurilca-europeans.org/
The 2023 ILCA Master European Championships are organized by EurILCA in conjunction with Société des Régates de Douarnenez.
The event is kindly supported by the town of Douarnenez, the Finistère department council and the Brittany region; and sponsored by PC Clean, Accastillage Diffusion Douarnenez, Uship – Marine Service Douarnenez, Triskell Auto, Les Délices Bigoudens, Henriot and E.Leclerc Douarnenez.
Let´s go sailing!
#foreverclass #foreversailing
The EurILCA Team
Report by Agustín Argüelles | Photos by Thom Touw.
