Germani – Bertuzzi don’t stop anymore: world bronze in 49er FX in Lanzarote

After qualifying the nation for the Paris Olympics, after hitting European silver in 2023 (and bronze in 2022), Jana Germani and Giorgia Bertuzzi make a great debut in the year of the Games by going on to win bronze at the World 49er FX Championship in Lanzarote, Canary Islands.

A result that certifies the growth of this crew that has brought the Italian women’s 49er back to very high levels, as perhaps has not happened since the days of Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich. Of course, it is still early to bother with major comparisons, but the girls are load playing on par with the best in the class. Ahead of the first-place Italian women were the very strong Dutch Aanholt-Duetz, in their second world title, and second were Sweden’s Bobeck-Netzler.

Also of note were the female sailors who remained behind Germani-Bertuzzi, with Brazil’s Grael-Kunze, dominators of the class in recent years with two Olympic gold medals around their necks who finished fourth just behind ours.

Bertuzzi – Germani, who are the super sailors of the Italian 49er FX

Bertuzzi born in 2001 in Rovereto, in Trieste in 1999 Jana Germani, at 23 and 25 came to compete for the top of the 49er fleet, a boat where Italy had long struggled a bit to make results. After changing a few boat mates, they have been sailing together since 2020, and they amazed right away by starting with good results from their first races when they were in their early twenties.

Their technical growth has been steady to the point where they are consistently competing in meda races at World Cup stages, even with the help of coach Gianfranco Sibello.

Jana Germani and Giorgia Bertuzzi: “We are extremely happy to have won third place. We still find it hard to believe it completely. Despite a challenging week, we managed to face it with determination. Now, it is time to learn from the small mistakes we made so that we can give our best in the upcoming regattas. It was a positive week and we are thrilled to bring home this result. We would like to express our sincere thanks to our coach Gianfranco Sibello, DT Michele Marchesini, as well as the entire Sailing Federation and the Navy for their support.”