The words of thanks of Carmen Casco, Vice President IODA Europe, at the Closing Ceremony at the Club Nautico Marina di Carrara were emotional. In her speech, partly in Italian as a sign of respect for the host country, certificates of participation were handed out to all the teams and winners were awarded. Gifts were exchanged with the Club Nautico Marina di Carrara, which had
- the prizes made of white Carrara marble customised for the occasion.
At the end of the prize-giving ceremony, the IODA flag was lowered and the Championship was declared closed.
Ciao!

The 2024 Optimist European Championship, held in Italy at the Club Nautico Marina di Carrara, has come to an end. In the boys' category, the European Champion is:
- Jason Panagopoulos (GRE), who won the championship for the third time in a row. Second place went to Italian Jesper Karlsen and third place went to Turkish sailor Mehmet Erkut Budak.
In the girls' category, the Croatian sailor:
- Vita Erceg emerged as European Champion. Second place went to Italian Anna Merlo and bronze went to another Italian, Bianca Marchesini*.
Italy also won the Top Nation Award for the eighth time since 2016 and for the seventh time in a row, ahead of Greece and Croatia. The last day of the championship featured a challenging race course characterized by light and variable winds with a strong current from the south. These conditions made it particularly difficult for the girls to sail against the wind. The start for the Gold Fleet was only given the go-ahead a few minutes before the time limit expired, while the Silver and Bronze Fleet were brought ashore. The prizes for all championship winners were made of white Carrara marble and personalized for the event.

The best German sailor in 10th place was Lukas Wagner. On the first day of the final round, he had secured 7th place in the Gold Fleet with two top 10 results. With 22nd place in the only race on the final day, he was 10th overall, level on points with the Italian sailor Artur Brighenti ahead of him.
The final European Championship results of the GER sailors:
- Boys: 10th Lukas Wagner; 32nd Noah Schweichler; 47th Maximilian Kießling; 61st Leo Hespe;
- Girls: 34th Lea Winkler; 60th Theda Bruhns; 75th Aileen Sorg.

* Note on the results list: In the final result, two guests are among the top 10 of the European Championship 2024,
- BRA 4318 Manuel BRAGANÇA from South America is "Winner" (Gold), ahead of GRE 2880 Iason Panagopoulos,
- HKG 535 Margaux NGUYEN-MINH from Hong Kong is in third place (Bronze), ahead of ITA 9903 Bianca MARCHESINI, but both cannot accept the 2024 prize as "non-European guests".
See all results here.
© Photos: GER TEAM, Roberto Celi Ph, Club Nautico Marina di Carrara.

At the conclusion of the five qualifying races, last night the Fleets were defined for access to the final series which started this morning in the Marina di Carrara spot. The sailors launched at 11:30 and started racing around 13:00. Three races were completed for each Fleet for a total of 8 races since the start of the Championship.
The first boy in the Gold Fleet is Manuel BRAGANÇA (BRA), second is Iason PANAGOPOULOS reigning European Champion and third is Mehmet Erkut BUDAK (TUR).
The first girl in the Gold Fleet is Anna MERLO (ITA) second is Olha LUBIANSKA (UKR) and third is Vita ERCEG (CRO). Light winds on the race course, in the range of 6 to 10 knots, with a long  wave.

In the GER boys, Lukas Wagner reached 7th place, a great result in the top 10 out of 157 sailors on the 4th day after 8 races! Followed by Noah Schweichler, Maximilian Kiessling and Leo Hespe.
In the GER girls group, Lea Winkler leads 1st place, followed by Theda Bruhns and Aileen Sorg.

Day Four was complex because the wind was very shifty and made the course difficult for the competing sailors to interpret. In fact it is notorious that the Marina di Carrara venue, which has trained many famous sailors, is a very technical and feared race course. Pasta party and music took place at the Club when the sailors returned ashore.  The appointment is set for tomorrow when, at the end of the races, we will know the names of the winners. The Prize-Giving Ceremony will take place tomorrow at the Club Nautico Marina di Carrara on the stage in front of the IODA flag
See all results here.
© Fotos: GER TEAM, Roberto Celi Ph, Club Nautico Marina di Carrara.

Starting at the OPTIMIST EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 in Carrara / Italy from June 29th to July 6th:
4 boys: Lukas Wagner, Maximilian Kießling, Noah Schweichler and Leo Hespe,
3 girls: Lea Marie Winkler, Aileen Sorg and Theda-Marieke Bruhns.
The coach is George Blaschkiewitz and the team leader is Annika Oline Grossmann.

The Marina di Carrara Sailing Club, founded in 1953, is a glorious club located in Tuscany. From here you can quickly reach famous cities of art such as Florence, Pisa and Lucca.