Faithful to tradition, this year too the Fraglia Vela Riva can boast of having two athletes among the selected Italian Optimist national teams in view of the main events of the 2024 season.
On the basis of the two selection regattas, held in Marina di Carrara and Cagliari, the Italian coach Marcello Meringolo has in fact released the names of those called up for the World Championship in Mar del Plata and the European Championship in Marina di Carrara and these include Andrea Demurtas, selected for the second time in view of the world championship, and Jesper Karlsen, who will compete in the top continental competition.
“I knew that this year the chances of qualifying were greater because the European Championship is in Italy, but I also knew that managing to get into the top five was complicated, because the opponents were very strong. This is why I am very happy to have qualified for the second consecutive time for the World Championship. I arrived in Cagliari for the second selection quite calm, because in Carrara I had raced well, even if I was a little behind in the rankings, penalized by a tonnage penalty. The conditions were difficult because of the wind it was fluctuating. But on the first day I did well, I was the best and I achieved two firsts. This brought me to the World Championship and gave me energy and confidence for the other days: I faced the tests calmly, without getting nervous. The second day was the most difficult for me, because the wind was stronger and I struggled more than the others to hold the boat, but in the end it went well. The last day I wasn’t worried because I had two low gaps (22 – 23 ) and I had quite a points lead over sixth. Now I have a long wait ahead of the World Championship which will be in December: I will take the opportunity to work a lot on starts and physical preparation” commented Andrea Demurtas.
“There were two complicated selections: the first in Marina di Carrara with a wind of 5 to 15 knots with a final day without wind, while the decisive selection was in Cagliari, with a very fluctuating Mistral and a final day of Sirocco. I am These were tough tests for me as I arrived in Cagliari not mentally prepared, in fact after the first day I dropped many positions, but I still managed to recover day by day until I was able to qualify for the European Championship for which I know I have still a lot of work to do” was Jesper Karlsen’s comment.
Results, those obtained by the Optimist Team of the Fraglia Vela Riva which received the applause of the president Andrea Camin: “Year after year the very young people of the Optimist always give us important satisfactions, which demonstrates the abilities of our technicians, the quality of our Competitive team and the talent of our boys. I congratulate Andrea and Jesper for achieving this prestigious goal and wish them good luck for the rest of the season.”
