Two crowns for one king

Fifteen crews from five nations, probably the best European Championship from the technical point of view since ever. All races were set just outside the Venice port and all races were very spectacular with crews well prepared, excellent manoeuvres and good boat handling with several exciting photo finishes.

All teams had crew members with international experience such as Stefano Rizzi (two America's Cup campaigns and Round The World Races) with Gabriele Benussi on Magic Mitsubishi, the Portuguese Hugo Rocha (4 Olympics with bronze medal in Atlanta) on Cheyenne, Francesco Bruni (on Matrix) and Claudio Novi (on Charis) with Gaetano Figlia di Granara, then Lorenzo Bressani with Gianfranco Noè (on MON01 Frimpeks), Paolo Montefusco (on Black Rose), Branko Brcin (on Mummy One Assotubi), Francesco Ivaldi and the brothers Eulisse (on Uka Uka), Andrea Casale (on Diletta).

This event was able to gather very good foreigner crews too: Cro-A-Sail, the first crew in the standings, was racing with two crew members with Olympic experience and the Turkish Uluc too.

The alternation of results confirms that in this monotype the crew makes the difference; it’s matter of concentration, determination and perfection. Without the today races the standing remains unchanged, with the strong Italian fleet on top and a short list of five or six good candidates for the title.

At the end, after 9 races the title of European Champion was awarded to Matrix of Luigi Melegari, former World Champion, demonstrating once again a good crew preparation. Second is Cheyenne of Federico Strocchi while third MON01 Frimpeks of Francis Farneti and Andrea Musone. Good performances of Mummy One Assotubi of Mingozzi-Bonora in fourth position and for Magic Mitsubishi Gasperoni-Franchini-Zaoli fifth, followed by ten more competitors.

Some comments at the end of the Championship:
Ian Burman, International M30 Class Secretary: "This event was fantastic with 9 outstanding races showing a very competitive and compact fleet. I had the opportunity to race with the Croatian and it was an exciting experience. The Italian teams are very fast and perfect boat handling, always on top; even in moments of difficulty they could return in the first positions. Venice was a pleasant discovery."

Carol Abbott, European M30 Class Association: "The organisation was fantastic, the Race Committee did a great job in completing 9 beautiful races, courses well set, starts always on. We had great time and Venice is really wonderful."

Francesco Farneti, President of the Italian M30 Class Association: "A great European championship, the organization has been successful in all respects, I am very pleased about the massive presence of national and foreign crews that have enabled us to award the title, which had not occurred in the previous edition. There were 15 boats extremely competitive and at least five with close performances. Unfortunately there were some not very crystal clear discussion but all races have been beautiful. This event is now over and we are going to concentrate to the next part of the Italian circuit.”

Luigi Melegari, owner-helsman: "Firstly I would like to thank my crew racing with me since long time, Francesco Bruni successfully joined our team. We sailed well, I hoped to win with more serenity. There were at least 6 or 7 boats deserving to win. After the World title of last year the European title is a good result. "

Francesco Bruni, tactician: It has been a big responsibility to sail with the World champion crew, a team well trained handling a fast and optimized boat. We were very lucky because we took a couple of extra risks due to lack of concentration and we made two venial infringements settled with luck. This proves that to win we have to be luck too."

Federico Strocchi owner-helmsman: "A good championship with very technical and exciting races and with a competitive level. The experience with Hugo Rocha is excellent, we have been sailing together before, he has exceptional sailing instinct. We know each other since long time and everything went well. I feel a little bitterness because of some unpleasant situations where the Jury, not accepting two evident protests, in my opinion, distorted the championship."

Lorenzo Bressani, tactician: “Nine good races for us, sailed with good wind and unexpected weather conditions for Venice and making them very demanding from the tactical point of view. It’s a pity that a protest was not inexplicably accepted by Jury which has created resentment, because the infringement was clearly seen at sea and finally the Rules have not been applied.

Standings after three races (boat owner, tactician):
Matrix (ITA), Melegari, Bruni (p. 32)
Cheyenne (ITA), Strocchi, Rocha (p. 39)
MON 01 Frimpeks (ITA), Farneti-Musone, Bressani (p. 41)
Mummy One Assotubi (ITA), Mingozzi-Bonora, Brcin (p. 43)
Magic Mitsubishi (ITA), Franchini-Zaoli-Gasperoni, Benussi (p. 51)
Diletta (ITA), Mocheggiani, Casale (p. 64)
Black Rose (ITA), Black Rose Sailing Team, Montefusco (p. 71)
Uka Uka (ITA), Santini, Eulisse (p. 73)
Cro-A-Sails (CRO), Reljanovic, Hajdinjak (p. 74)
Charis (ITA), Mangifesta, Figlia di Granara (p. 83)
Topas (GER), Bruening, Gerbin (p. 92)
White Shark (RUS), Los, Kalita (p. 94)
Uluc (TUR), Caner, Karakaplan (p. 108)
Oguzhan jr. (TUR), Sumer, Baykal (p. 108)
Rara Avis (RUS), Basalkina, Sverdlov (p. 109)