European Championship 2013

This has been one of the most crazy championship I remember, with 19 riders Disqualified and drastic changes on the ranking, affecting specially the Gold Fleet. In case you didn't hear about it, all Temaventos boards produced after #30 were DSQ. I felt very sorry for all those riders as they had no idea that their board were illegal.

Alejandro, Pablo and Florian (Spanish Team) were all quicked out as well... Elena Kalinina, the Russian young girl dropped from first to dead last, but she switch boards and managed to get into the Medal Race after wining all the races.

I didn't start very well the competition, with a tangle on the windward mark on the first race on the first day which put me on 12th place... However, I didn't let that affect to the rest of my competition and I slowly climbed up the ladder, finishing 5th at the end.

We did 4 races everyday. On the second day I had my best performance. I managed to rounded the windward mark on 2nd place after Russian Elena, and manage to get there 3rd in another race. It was a very nice feeling to be battling with Steph Bridge and Katja Roose. I can say that for the first time ever I used tactics and they worked!! I portacked the fleet at the starting line, It was three of us against the whole fleet, I managed to go throught the first and the second group of girls, and then on the second lap, after the windward mark I jibed immediately, taking the opposite way of the rest of the girls and that got me to the leeward mark gate faster. So proud of myself in that one!

It feels good when the competitions congratulate you for the race. I felt a great improvement from the last time in Egypt, the other big competition of the year. I feel that my body position has changed, for the better. I adjusted my Ozone Race Bar and now it just feels incredible and I'm sure that my new Ristafins for light wind helped in my improvement.

On the last two days I felt very tired, as on the 4th day the girls raced 4 races back to back as the Race Committee were mesuring all the boards. I got that done on my Mike's Lab on the first day with no problems at all. The extremly high temperatures we had during all week made very important to keep yourself hydrated, I was happy to have my USN products with me. You could not even walk on the beach without flip-flops!

So after a great week it was time to go back home, not after driving 8h and taking the 20h ferry back. It was quite an adventure knowing that if the van stopped it wouldn't start again! I even had to refill the tank with the engine on!

Thanks to all the guys who helped pushing my van at some point!! Now the problem is solved!!

Special thanks to Michael Petrikov for the amazing pictures!!

Surprise on the men's podium. Young Oliver Bridge (16) smoke all the competitors! Well done Oliver!

Esta ha sido una de las competiciones mas sonadas que recuerdo, con 19 riders descalificados y drásticos cambios en los rankings, afectando sobretodo la Flota de Oro. En caso que no os hayáis enterado de lo que pasó, todas las tablas Temavento producidas posterior al num.30 fueron DSQ. Lo sentí mucho por los riders afectados ya que ellos no tenían ni idea que sus tablas no cumplían el reglamento.

Alejandro, Pablo y Florian (equipo Español) también fueron descalificados… Elena Kalinina, la jovencísima Rusa, bajó del primer lugar destacada a última. Sin embargo, cambió de tabla y siguió compitiendo y logró meterse en la Medal Race del último día, ganando todas las mangas.

Yo no empecé muy bien la competición, con una enganchada en la boya de arriba en la primera regata del primer día que me relegó a un 12o puesto… Sin embargo no dejé que me afectara para el resto de la competición y poco a poco fui subiendo puestos hasta llegar a la 5a posición.

Hicimos 4 regatas por día durante los clasificatorios. En el segundo día tuve mi mejor performance. Conseguí pasar por la boya de ceñida en segunda posición después de la Rusa Elena, y pasé tercera en otra. Fue una muy buena sensación estar batallando con Steph Bridge (GB) y Katja Roose (NL). Por primera vez usé tácticas y me funcionaron! jeme, salí por babor porque la salida estaba favorecida, sólo tres de nosotras nos arriesgamos, contra toda la flota. Conseguí pasar entre el primer y el segundo grupo de chicas, y en la segunda vuelta, después de la boya de ceñida, transluché inmediatamente en dirección opuesta al resto de la flota, y llegué a la puerta mucho mas rápido. Ahí me sentí súper orgullosa de mi misma!