THE CONCLUSION of the recent Junior European Sailing Championships in Tavira ended bitterly for Portuguese sailing partners, António Matos Rosa and Francisco Lacerda, who finished eighth overall in the 420 class, after being disqualified from one of the regattas.
The Portuguese pair appealed against their disqualification, which placed them outside the medal positions, but it proved unsuccessful. The title went to Amit Brockman and Moshe Appel from Israel, with silver awarded to James and Daniel Ellis of the United Kingdom and bronze to Vincent Barthez and Thibault Heurley of France.
The female class was won by British pair Hanna Mills and Peggy Webster. Ana Rocha and Ana Oliveira were the best placed Portuguese team finishing in 17th place.
In the 470 class, the gold medal went to Luke Patience and Twiggy Grube of Great Britain. The pair were extremely delighted with the result, admitting that they always believed they could win. “We were not tired, we sailed well and this gave us the result we set out to achieve,” declared Patience. Croatian Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic came in second place, followed by the Greek team of Georgios Vasilas and Evangelos Mitakis. Emanuelle Rol and Anne Sophie Thilo from Switzerland won the female 470 European title. The Portuguese pairing of Piedade Colação and Mariana finished in 15th position.
