Hereby an update of how the event went. 

On Friday July 16 the first measurements/checks were performed, with continuation on Saturday and a possibility on Sunday morning before the start of the practice race. On Friday evening there was a positive surprise for all the sailors, an event was sailed at the club next to AVAL-CDV and all F16’s where invited to join in this regatta without costs and a good price giving afterwards with food and drinks. This meant that we had a series of 5 races extra. Great. Thijs Visser won this small pre Europeans. Well done Thijs!

The official beginning of the F16 Europeans on Monday July 19 started with a short skippers meeting explaining the course and some practical details. One advantage of this venue is that wind only kicks in as from 1PM, so every racer had a relaxed morning and every day boats only started to go out at 12 o’clock to then have a daily start of the races at 1PM. Everyday there were 3 races scheduled, with each 3 laps.
The course was a classic triangle (upwind – spreader – gate) course.

 Geert:

Less wind today. 3 laps with a bit of increase in wind towards the last race.

Top 10 results:

1. Jason Waterhouse - 17 points
2. Thijs Visser - 19 points
3. Carolijn Brouwer - 21 points
4. Silvia Scicouri - 22 points
5. Froukje Feenstra - 23 points
6. Christa Van Helden - 28 points
7. Gill De Bruyne - 48 points
8. Paul Warren - 48 points
9. Federico Farina - 52 points
10. Chris Sproat - 55 points

 So a close battle up in front with a lot of possible winners! Gill and Paul are in a draw for 7th place now. Place 7 to 10 will also still be a fierce battle! Very exciting racing with 2 more days to go.

 Wind prediction is to be very light tomorrow and friday so we'll see if any single handlers will be climbing the results. Hans Klok had a top 10 finish today in the second race. Marc and Daniel are also still in a fierce battle and Geert is doing his best keeping up alone, fighting with Eric.

Day 2 is over and it was another perfect day. The Italians must have a great life! Sun sun sun and wind just when you need it. There was more wind today, but very steady. In race 1 the right side was favoured but in race 2 and 3 it was the other side that payed off. 5 teams saw this and gained alot on the teams that chose the right side again.

Day 1. Skippers meeting at 11 and the race course gets announced: 3 laps, upwind mark - spreader mark - gate. Three races are scheduled for today and for all the 5 days of the week.
Still no wind, but weather prediction is that winds of 15 knots will kick in.

Sun, water, wind, nice sceneries. That is Como, Italy in a nutshell. A great place for the first F16 Europeans.
Damn, what a great lake!

A new prototype design from Phil Brander (designer of the very first Blade F16) hit the water at Victor Harbor Australia recently. More pictures and details of "The Razor" will follow.

A little more then one month from now the first F16 Europeans will be held (19-23 July). After the first 2 Global Challenges have been held on the European continent (Holland, UK), this will be the third major event in Europe.

As the F16 is fast growing, the event will be an excellent opportunity for the sailors to meet up with each other again or to meet newcomers to the class. Also for sailors outside the F16 class the event will be excellent to see the versatility of people and brands participating.