Tornado Europeans 2011: Paschalidis-Trigonis 1st
Sent by Andrew Dowley ——-
“Lake Como was presented at its best for the 38 teams from 9 nations who
arrived to battle it out to be 2011 Tornado European Champions.
Every day just in time for lunch the southern thermals came through and gave the Tornado sailors excellent sailing conditions. It was certainly one of the most beautiful championships the Tornado class has had for years. The competitors managed 10 races over the four day championships.Many of the teams came to the Alps expecting it to be tactically better to go down one side as per usual. They were taught a lesson very quickly, almost every cross had different tactical options. Compared to neighbouring lakes; Lake of Como is tactically more interesting. The wind strength was certainly not as stable, but there is something for everyone. The wind conditions varied from 6 to 26 knots.
After 10 races it was the Greek Olympic veterans Iordanis Paschalidis and Konstantinos Trigonis who took the European victory for the fourth time in a row.
In the last few races, the mixed World Champions Roland and Nahid Gaebler had their chance to take the lead in the championships. After an excellent race start they were ahead of the Greeks, who after 9 races were only one point ahead in the series. One botched turn and then the Greeks went away to leeward and there was no chance to overtake them again.
This year the Tornado Class chose to hold the World and European championships close together in both location and time, this has proved to be a hit, especially with sailors from outside Europe who want to visit for both regattas.
With the ISAF World Sailing Federation deciding that “Mixed Sailing” in an Olympic sport for multihull, the Tornado class have decided to set this as a benchmark. The results from both the World and European championships speak for themselves. It is a hit! Many ladies have gone into the Tornado and try with experienced men to sail forward. Completely new partnerships have emerged on the boats. The Tornado class seems much fresher with the increasing number of ladies who wish to sail the action packed boat.
Final results (top 10) 1 GRE 7 Iordanis Paschalidis, Konstantinos Trigonis
2 GER 1 Gaebler Roland, Gaebler Nahid
3 GRE 11 Nikos Mavros, Alexander Tagaropoulos
4 SUI 228 Rusterholz Martin, Koster Simon
5 GER 5 Veit Hemmeter, Nico Lutz
6 AUT 372 Michael Schonleitner, Philipp Rakuschan
7 CZE 686 David Krizek, Zdenek Adam
8 GER 1084 Sebastian Moser, Thomas Posch
9 SUI 232 Cuanillon Jean-Marc, Michael Gloor
10 BRA 3 Di Bernardi Bruno, Vigano’ Matteo
Final results in full – https://www.tornadochampionships.com/2011-european-championships-four-in-a-row-for-the-greeks/
Videos from the event – https://www.youtube.com/tornadoclass
