Palma is “Marraivigliosa” for blue sailing: Livornese wins Princesa Sofia Trophy

Matter of time, they say in such cases. And it is a matter of time for Francesco Marrai before he becomes a total champion. Today, in the waters of Palma, the young Livorno native put another brick in the right place in his career, winning the Princesa Sofia Trophy among standard lasers.

Marrai finished sixth in the medal race, but with his direct opponent tenth there were no problems for the final victory, which came at the end of a week that saw the 24-year-old race very smoothly in terms of results (one of his “weak points” was usually continuity throughout a week of racing).

Blue sailing is therefore smiling, also because in the other classes it is not doing badly, in fact, it is doing quite well with several crews in the top ten at the end of a generally positive week. International Olinpic Classes. Mattia Camboni is fourth in the men’s RS:X plank (10th Carlo Ciabatti), Marta Maggetti is ninth in the women’s RS:X, Elena Berta-Sveva Carraro is fifth in the women’s 470 Doubles, Ruggero Tita-Caterina Banti is eighth in the Nacra 17 and Maria Ottavia Raggio-Paola Bergamaschi is eighth in the 49er FX. Of course, the values at the beginning of the four-year period are still not the real ones, and it is also true that before Rio 2016 the Azzurri in various classes had not lacked results and then we know how it ended, but a start like this is always good news and a hope for the future toward Tokyo 2020.

“It was a victory won at the last second and for that reason even more beautiful: with Hanson we played it out in the Medal, by the way in quite challenging wind conditions, then once I reached the finish line I turned around and saw that it was last and then I celebrated in every way I could.” declared a beaming Francesco Marrai as he returned to shore. “Overall it was a difficult regatta, but I managed to stay consistent throughout the week, trying to limit the various lows that can always be there, so in the end I entered the Medal with a good score, very close to the first, and this allowed me to play it all the way. I am very happy with this victory, we are working well and above all it is the best way to start this new four-year period towards Tokyo 2020.”