SLOVENIAN FJ OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2016

On 15th and 16th of October we participated at the Slovenian open FJ Championship. There were nine boats registered including two teams from Italy and one team from Germany. This was not big fleet but with different classes racing (Fireball and Europe) there were a lot of boats and sailors to join us at the water and on land.

When we went to inscribe ourselves we learned that on the same day, after the races, there would still be another event: the “go sailing race”. We immediately accepted to participate also in this event.

After a short briefing where the president of the club informed us about the program of the first day, we went sailing even when the wind wasn’t much.

This first day was characterized by low and unstable wind but nevertheless we sailed three races, two valid for the championship and one for the go sailing race.

The race area was inside the Pirano’s bay, for this reason it was very difficult to sail well because there was a lot of sea current, but this made the regatta even more technical and funny. The route was a trapezium so a completely new way to race for us.   

At the end of the day the German team, Norbert and Gudrun were leading the fleet followed by Magdalena and Gianluigi (ITA 3124) and Daria and Sante (ITA 3819).

After a busy day on the sea, a pleasant dinner is the best thing a sailor can imagine! The night was full of prices. First the price giving of the go sailing event, won by two young guys on 29’er, there was a raffle with prices for almost everyone.

In the morning of the second day we had a briefing with the president of the club about the world championship 2017, the kindness and open-minded thinking of the Slovenian people made us very happy to come again next year.

On Sunday we luckily had a little bit more wind and this give us the opportunity to experience some conditions closer to the ones we will have on July when the world championship will be held. The first two race made the ranking from the previous day stronger, everyone sailing around the same places as before. But the third race, with shifting wind and a lot of sea current, mixed it all again. After five beautiful and intense races the championship was over, Norbert and Gudrun never left the first position and also Magdalena and Gianluigi never left the second stage of the podium, the third place overall was for Bostjan and Peter (SLO 17). The Slovenian ranking was very hard battled and, even if they had the same points of Bostjan and Peter, Rok and Marko (SLO 1) finished the championship as vice Slovenian champions followed by Igor and Gregor (SLO 9).

Many thanks to all the Slovenian sailors who hosted the event and welcomed us so kindly!! See you soon!