Balearic-Galician duo of Barceló & Echegoyen in podium positions in 49er FX European Championship

Second day of the 49er and 49er FX European Championship in the waters of Vilamoura, Portugal, with three races for each class and very positive results for the Spaniards.

Club Nàutic S'Arenal sailor Paula Barceló and her teammate Támara Echegoyen are provisional silver in 49er FX after two first places, and the Wizner brothers are eighth in 49er, with Botín and Trittel adding two partial third places that take them to 15th place in the European Championship.

With an initial wind strength of over 10 knots, which dropped to 5 knots, the day was complete in the waters off the coast of the Portuguese Argarve, with three races for all the groups in each category.

The 49er FX women have been the ones who have suffered the most from the drop in wind, finishing the last race very close. The Olympic crew of Támara Echegoyen and Paula Barceló made the most of the day and continued their upward trend, adding 6-1-1 to their results, catapulting them up to second place in the overall rankings. This provisional silver place is even more commendable when the conditions are not ideal for the Galician-Balearic duo, demonstrating that the work done during the last two months has boosted the team's performance.

Completing the national women's results were Paula van Wieringen and Claudia Sobral from the Balearic Islands in 48th place, and Alicia Fras and Elena Barrio from the Canary Islands in 50th place.

In the 49er class, the Cantabrian Diego Botín and the Catalan Florian Trittel signed two third places and an 18th, placing them 15th in the European classification, 20th overall. The best partial of the Galicians Martin and Jaime Wizner has been a fourth, and they remain in the TOP10 of the European with an 8th, 11th overall Open. The Catalans Pol Marsans and José Manuel Ruiz are 45th, and the Balearic Albert Torres and Elías Aretz 48th.

With a similar wind forecast to the last day, this Friday will be decisive for both classes. With the closing of the Qualifying Series, the Gold, Silver and Bronze groups will be formed for the Final Series. Only the top 25 will advance to the Gold Group, starting the final sprint to the Medal Races on Monday.