SAILING: Olympic silver medallists Darren Bundock (NSW) and Nina Curtis (NSW) have won the silver medal at the 2015 Nacra 17 Open European Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
Winds of up to 12 knots offered ideal conditions for the exciting final at the Nacra 17 European Championship. The event finished on Saturday after a total of eleven races over four days of racing and after two competition days had to be cancelled due to too much wind or the lack there of.
Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis went into the final top ten Medal Race ranked second and after a sixth place in the double-points Medal Race finished the event in overall second and four points behind the British winners Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves.
"It was a very strange race today, the positions changed a lot and we were first place for a while, but we finally lost and finished overall second. The British have done a great job. It was a great championship and I think everyone is happy. The setting was magnificent, with very good facilities, so we had good racing," Darren Bundock said.
And crew Nina Curtis added: “We sailed a great regatta and have made a big step up in our performance after some hard work and training camps! What a great way to finish this European season. Now it’s home time.”
Three points behind the Australians, completing the podium of the open championship and claiming the European silver were Olympic medallist Allan Norregaard and his crew Annette Viborg from Denmark.
Hosted at the Barcelona International Sailing Center (BISC) 42 teams from 23 countries competed in Barcelona. Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis were the only Australian Team crew competing in Spain.
The Nacra 17 European Championship was organized by the Sports Federation Union of Catalonia (UFEC) and the Catalan Sailing Federation with the support of the Barcelona City Council, the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona Royal Yacht Club (RCNB) and the Royal Maritime Club of Barcelona (RCMB).
Results Darren Bundock & Nina Curtis: 5, 10, 4, 2, 3, 7, 7, 13, (14), 5, 6 – 2nd
SAILING AUSTRALIA