2008 European Championship/Mats Nyberg Trophy
Thessaloniki - Greece 21 June 2008
The Greeks have won the European Championships - Again!
Local heroes Iordanis Pachalidis and Kostas Trigonis have triumphed on home waters. The Greeks were treated to horns and sirens from the spectators as the crossed the finish for the last time ahead of the French teams to seal victory.
It was a tough day on the water with the top 4 all having their worst race on the final day.
Racing got underway after a postponement of 1 hour 40 minutes on the water as the seabreeze was late to fill in and settle down. The first race of the day started in 6 knots of breeze and it proved to be more pressure on the right hand side of the course. Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher lead from the right corner with the Italians Marcolini/Bianchi in second place throughout the race.
The real interest was between the Pashalidis (GRE), Guichard (FRA) and Besson (FRA) who finished 6,8,9 respectively to bring the 3 within one point for the overall lead.
The second race of the day once again got away in 6 knots of breeze, minutes within the 1600hr final cut off.
The trend for the day seemed to be the right hand side of the course paying despite the left being better all week.
The top 4 on the score sheet found themselves on the left hand side of the course for the first upwind which was to play into the Greeks hands as they had the best drop race. The young German Mittelmeier brothers won the race followed by Santiago Lange & Carlos Espinola (ARG). The Italians Marcolini/Bianchi came in 3rd.
In the fight for the European Championship the Greeks were defending off the French for the final lap to clinch victory.
Event Website: www.tornado2008.gr
