#Feels #great #Austrian #Olympic #Committee
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
On the second day of the World and European Championships off the coast of southern France, three teams from the Austrian Sailing Association achieved race victories. Laura Farese and Matthäus Zöchling are now only three points behind the top 10 after their race win at the Nacra 17 World Championship in front of La Grande-Motte. At the 49er European Championships, which also took place in La Grande-Motte, Keanu Prettner and Jakob Flachberger also ended the day with a race win, while Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl improved to seventh place in the interim rankings with three top 5 results.
With their race victory, Lara Vadlau and Lukas Mähr completed the qualifying round of the 470 European Championships in front of Cannes in sixth place overall and thus confidently qualified for the gold fleet.
After a solid start to the Nacra 17 World Championship on Tuesday, Laura Farese and Matthäus Zöchling were able to improve further on the second day of the qualification series in strong wind conditions and record a race win. In the two other races of the day, the young Nacra 17 duo took eighth and sixth place and thus claimed eleventh place overall. Only three points separate the young Austrian team from the top 10 in the world. “Winning a race at a World Cup obviously feels great. We were comfortably ahead from the first windward. We had good speed and made the right decisions,” says helmswoman Laura Farese proudly. “The strategy was to stay to the right of the field. Most boats followed our decision. Then we were able to take a shift in the wind with us,” adds foreman Matthäus Zöchling. In the six races so far, Farese/Zöchling have only achieved top 10 results in their 22-boat fleet. “So far these have been our conditions here. We have more wind, and the focus on the starts has paid off so far,” analyzes Farese.
Lukas Haberl and Tanja Frank again had to struggle with the strong wind conditions on the second day of the competition. With individual results 12th, 11th and 13th, the red-white-red duo fell back to 21st place overall. “It’s difficult for us to keep up in these wind conditions, even though we actually only made a few mistakes,” sums up the foreman Tanja Frank.
Race victory for Prettner/Flachberger
Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl were able to fight their way to seventh place in the overall ranking at 15 to 24 knots with increasing performance and individual results of five, three and two. “We had a lot of fun today. We had good starts and the speed was also right. We were able to play with the spins and pressure differences. All in all, it was a very good day for us,” sums up crewman David Hussl.
After initially mixed performances – individual places 25 and 28 – Keanu Prettner and Jakob Flachberger managed a race win in the last race of the day. However, the duo from Salzburg fell back to 23rd place in the overall ranking. “The first two races were of course very frustrating. At the beginning we didn’t find the right rhythm with the wind. We ultimately capsized in both races. In the third race everything finally worked, which made us very happy. However, when you see what is possible, it makes the results of the first two races even more frustrating,” said helmsman Keanu Prettner.
Vadlau/Mähr are in the gold fleet after winning the race
At the 470cc European Championship held at the same time in Cannes (FRA), Lara Vadlau and Lukas Mähr managed to win the race in light wind conditions after a seventh place at the start of the day. With sixth place overall after a total of five qualifying races, the duo confidently qualified for the gold fleet. “We have not had to accept any major mistakes in the five races so far and are confidently in the gold fleet. The race victory in the last race was of course a very nice end to the qualification,” sums up the foreman Lukas Mähr. “We want to go full throttle in the gold fleet, carry on as before and then we’ll see what happens in the end,” says helmswoman Lara Vadlau, looking ahead.
Rosa Donner and Niklas Haberl finished 16th and 21st on the second day of the 470cc European Championship and are therefore 42nd in the overall ranking. “The first start went quite well. But a few mistakes set us back a bit. We didn’t get off to the best start in the second race. Even though the speed was basically right today, you simply can’t afford to make any mistakes here,” said pre-scooter Niklas Haberl.
