Italian sailing has a new European champion, Francesco Bertone, who has won the Waszp European Championship at Mar Menor, Murcia in Spain.
The small one-design foiler is one of the most popular flying boats of the moment, with a growing number of participants in Italy too, thanks to its lower cost and simpler formula compared to the Moths.
45 helmsmen took part in the European Championship, which was decided at the last metre of the last race, the eleventh in the series. The final day was a thriller, with three helmsmen vying for the title and Francesco Bertone starting from third place. The photo finish gave the Italian fifth place in the race, enough to climb up to first place and take home the title. Behind the Ligurian placed the British Ross Banham and the Swiss Jann Schuepbach.
This result is also the result of the work of the DryLaps team, the training centre in Imperia dedicated to Waszp and others, which is gathering many youngsters in the western Ligurian town for training on foils or monotypes.
Mauro Giuffrè
THE VIDEO OF THE FINAL DAY