Taranto - By also winning the leg that took the fleet from Montenegro to Taranto, Ellie Driver and Catherine Hunt won the EUROSAF Female Offshore European Championship, an event organized by Difesa Servizi S.p.A. and SSI Events, with the support of the Marina Militare and EUROSAF and the collaboration of the Lega Navale Italiana Taranto, Marina di Molo Sant'Eligio and the Portomontenegro Yacht Club. The two British sailors, representing the colors of Team Chili Pepper, demonstrated great familiarity with the Beneteau Figaro 3, the star boat of the event, always sailing fast and in phase with the wind.
A roadmap that left no room for their opponents, led by Team OHalloran-Stevens (Roisin O'Halloran-Connie Stevens), second on the finish line in both Montenegro and Taranto, and by the Germans of Team Vamos (Florencia Lazzari-Helena Schneider), finished five points behind the new European champions. The ranking was then completed by Team AskewHill, Team Solot, Team Quadriga, Team Caccia and Team M&M.
"We got on the boat without too many expectations, with the plan to do the best we could and we certainly didn't expect to have so much to celebrate and to win both legs with such a margin over second on both occasions. I had a lot of fun at sailing on the Beneteau Figaro 3: it's a really exciting boat. I come from other monotypes and dealing with foils was very interesting, it's a slightly different way of sailing, which introduces new variables into the game" commented Ellie Driver on the sidelines of the awards ceremony.
Now that the Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour has crowned the new European champions in women's doubles offshore, attention turns to the Double Mixed Offshore World Championship which, supported by World Sailing and organized by the same committee that gave birth to the EUROSAF Female Offshore European Championship, will officially open tomorrow with the opening ceremony, followed by the official wam up - Wednesday - and the start of the offshore race, scheduled for Thursday and approximately 350 nautical miles long.