IODA European Team Race Championships 2010 Ledro
IODA European Team Race Championships 2010 Ledro
Report by G.Kingston
Team: Captain: Seafra Guilfoyle RCYC Sean Donelly NYC Sophie Browne TSC/RCYC Patrick Crosbie RCYC Jil McGinley RCYC
The 2010 IODA European Team Race Championships is in its third year and has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2008. The competition is held in one of most breathtaking locations I've ever witnessed. Picture Cork harbour on a winters day blowing 20 knots, now picture the complete opposite - this is Ledro! It's a tiny lake in the Italian alps with the staggering mountain peaks and lush greenery providing a great backdrop for some serious team racing. The 2010 Team Race Irish Team was made up of the very successful group selected to represent the country at the fleet race Europeans in Poland earlier in the summer. I had met them all for training weekend before Poland, and I also did a Team Race session with them a week before leaving. The team of three boys and two girls proved a perfect mix. It allowed us to use a sub and rotate the team for the 4 V 4 team races. Team racing pushes the your boat handling skills, knowledge of the rules, and team work to new levels. In my opinion it is very often more exciting and action packed than fleet racing as each race lasts no more than 10 minutes! DAY 1: Wednesday AUG 24. We woke to blistering sunshine and a flat calm Lake Ledro. The team was nervous at breakfast but focused on the task at hand. We were the 9th ranked team for the event and were up against the French (4th) and Italians (1st) in our first two races, a tough start.
The team raced well as a unit and managed to overcome these two very talented teams with ease, things were looking up! The team sailed ashore after every second race for a quick debrief, sub rotation, and as much water as possible, whether Sophie wanted it or not! Afternoon races against Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Finland were easily dealt with and the team seemed unstoppable in the 8-10 knots of breeze and 30 degree heat.
After receiving a penalty on a course technicality against the french we had 5 wins out of 6 that night. The boys spent a good portion of the day trying to trap lizards. We were 2nd in the Europeans after day 1.
DAY 2: Today started with a few hiccups. Team GBR got the better of us in the first race of the day. We put this defeat down to too much team racing and ironically, not enough fleet racing. The team didnt get their priorities right. A better start = an easier race. It was as simple as that. We then clicked into action and slayed the Norweigens, Suisse, Danish and Dutch.
The Turks were a class act all week and we nearly had them! Séafra, our most experienced team racer and deserving team captain, had a capsize in 8 knots of breeze when we were in 1-2-3-5 winning combination (he told me not to mention this, but it was too funny to leave out! It wasnt very funny at the time - I'll say no more...) The Croatians also took a race from us today. We were 3rd overall after day three.
DAY 3: Today the fleets were split. Gold Fleet racing from now on. We are now guaranteed a top 8 finish in the championships. The weather still 30 degrees, the wind still light, the team still gunning for a medal. Day 3 however, was to be our toughest day yet. We got stuck in a rut from the off. We lost a whopping 6 races in a row... We finished the day off with the win over the polish, but it might have been too little too late. We dropped from 3rd overall to 7th in a flash. A LOT of lessons were learned the hard way. Today was a steep learning curve. We witnessed first hand how an established team race team can turn a losing race around and get the right result.
DAY 4: This was the final day of the event. We had a 5-8 place play off. We sailed very well and a strong team spirit lifted the team after the below par performance yesterday. We overcame the Polish and the Germans, only to be narrowly beaten by the Spanish. We ended up a credible 6th in Europe in the end. 5 teams in front, and ten teams in our wake.
Turkey, Italy, Croatia and France made up the semi finals and were battling hard infront of a large crowd of spectators. To our surprise the Turks, who were the clear favourites for the gold, fell apart against the Croatians. Meanwhile the Italians, on home waters, were blitzed by the French. There were yelps from the viewing platform as coaches screamed tactics to their teams from the ledge 50ft above the racecourse. The Croats took the french in the final and it was decided - Croatia were the 2010 European Champions.
I'd recommend Ledro to anyone interested in quality team racing, top notch race management, sunshine, and great mini golf competitions!
Thanks to the parents of the five sailors for the opportunity to work with this talented group.
George
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