Master European Championship - Final - Snipe Class International

(Photo courtesy of Guillermo Baixauli)

Valencia, Spain, May 4, 2019.

Alejandro Fresneda and Javier López are the 2019 Snipe European Masters Champions

Fernando Rita and Juan Magro, win the Master category, José Palacio and Francisco Palacio take the Grand Master trophy while the Legend Master trophy has been reserved for José Pérez and Jorge Juan Soriano.

After three days of competition at sea and much entertainment ashore, the curtains closed tonight on the Snipe Master European Championship at the Real Club Nautico de Valencia, after three days of great racing that gathered some of the most outstanding teams in the Class in the Master category.

With an impeccable score sheet that left them on top of the rankings at all times, the duo from Almeria, Alejandro Fresneda and Javier López won the overall trophy, followed by the Portuguese Tiago Roquette and Dries Crombe and with the third place won by José Luis Maldonado and Alexandre Tinoco, from the RCN Valencia.

The requirement to take part at the Master championship is for the skipper to be older than 45 years and that the sum of the ages of both crew members at 80 years or more. In addition to the absolute title, the regatta has prizes for the Apprentice Master categories, with skipper between 45 and 54, Master, 55 – 64, Grand Master, 65 -74 and Legend Master, over 75 years of age.

Last day with see breeze

After two days of light winds and unstable weather, the sun was shining today on the Valencian race course for the final day with the fleet divided into Gold and Silver, and the tradition see breeze blew from 8 knots in the first race to up to almost 17 by the end of the final race.

The sailors of the Club de Mar de Almeria , Alejandro Fresneda and Javier López, who have never left the top of the rankings for the whole championship, today registered their worst result, a fifth place they could discard and a third in the last race, nonetheless they are the overall champions and winners in the Apprentice Master category. The Portuguese Tiago Roquette and Dries Crombe, of We Do Sailing, managed to keep the second position during the three days of racing, and after discarding their worst record in today’s first race, they claimed silver in both the absolute and the youngest category. The bronze medalists in both the overall and the Apprentice Masters are José Luis Maldonado and Alexandre Tinoco, of RCN Valencia.

The sailors of the Club Marítimo de Mahón, Fernando Rita and Juan Magro have managed to get the win off their club mates Damián Borrás and Jordi Triay, claiming the title of Master Champions and fourth overall. Borrás and Triay are runners-up Master and fifth overall, and the Italians Alberto Schiaffino and Giuseppe Prosperi take the bronze in the Masters category and 12th overall.

The Grand Master category champions are José Palacio and Francisco Palacio of the Real Club Astur de Regatas, 11th overall. The second position in this category is occupied by Jorn Haga of RCN Motril, sailing with Esperanza Péreza from Cartagena, and with the Italians Roberto Tozzi and Giuseppe Borelli completing the podium.

The winners in the most senior category of the championship, the Legend Master, are José Pérez and Jorge Juan Soriano, of the CN Los Nietos, followed by the Portuguese duo formed by Daniel Fins and Cristina Domingos and with the third place for the Belgians André and Eric Callot.

The trophies were presented by the president of the RCN Valencia, Alejandro Fliquete; the commodore of the Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIRA), Pierto Fantoni; the vice president of the Sailing Federation of the Valencian Community, Rafel Chirivella; the European General Secretary of SCIRA, Martín Bermúdez and the treasurer Sue Roberts, among other officials.

“The event was very well organized – says Snipe Commodore Pietro Fantoni after the Prize Giving Ceremony – both at sea and ashore everything was perfectly managed with lots of great side events. The Class is thankful to the Real Club Nautico de Valencia and the Snipe Fleet with its Captain José Maldonado, from the opening ceremony to the prize giving it was all outstanding. We were also lucky with the wind, a little light on the first day then stronger and stronger up to the 15 knots limit for the Grand Master. I am very happy at how the Spanish Snipe class is participating with enthusiasm from Canary Islands to Malaga and the whole country, I am also happy I won today’s first race in the challenging Gold fleet, but that is another story – smiles the Commodore – Now we can focus on the Women’s European Championship to be held in Anvers, Belgium, at the end of June, and then, of course, the World Championship in Brazil this October.”

Among the trophies presented today possibly the most meaningful was handed to the sailor of the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, José María “Nano” Belda, who sailed the championship at 85 years old, to value his 75th anniversary as a member of the club as well as his long and successful Snipe sailing career.

Tiago Roquette commented,“It was impressive. I was off sailing for three months and coming back with a silver medal is sensational. The organization was wonderful, we have to come back to the Real Club Náutico de Valencia ” .

“We loved it here, the organization of the championship was incredible, the Yacht Club is so welcoming and the racecourse perfect”, Alejandro Fresneda, European Master Champion.

Rachele Vitello

Final results after 6 races (1 discard):