19 July 2010
F16 Euro Challenge Comer See 2010
GIRL POWER VERSUS GENERATION NEXT IN VIPER BATTLE
While former round the world team-mates Carolijn Brouwer and Liz Wardley are
hoping girl power will sweep them to their second major win as a Viper team,
multiple Olympic medallist Darren Bundock will be relying on youthful
exuberance and enthusiasm to keep at bay a rising tide of young sailing
talent.
The two-time Olympic Tornado silver medallist has enlisted the aid of
teenage Viper skipper to match it with some of the top multihull sailors in
the world and the rising stars of the game on beautiful Lake Como in Italy
in this weeks F16 Euro Challenge.
Dutch sailor Froukje Feenstra, just 17, will be calling the shots on the
Viper with Bundock assuming the unusual role of crew for the event which
starts today.
``I have a suspicion I am not going to like being bossed about but as we all
know, the skipper gets the final say on the boat so I'll just have to do as
I'm told,'' laughed Bundock, a multiple world championship winning skipper
who less than a fortnight ago won the silver medal at the Formula 18 world
championships on a C2 Formula 18 with British sailor Will Howden.
But Feenstra said she will be happy to listen to any advice she gets from
her crewman given his stellar record in multihull sailing.
``I have been looking forward to this event for months and I think one of
the best things about this is that I expect to learn a lot,'' she said.
``I also can't wait to compete against Carolijn. She is amazing. And
hopefully having Darren on the boat and all his experience will mean we will
be close to them in the racing.''
While Brouwer and Wardley, who in their first ever Viper regatta together
won the Eurocat, France¹s largest catamaran championship, are considered two
of the leading female sailors in the world, they are also expecting to be
kept on their toes by a number of younger sailors competing at the regatta.
The pair, who raced together on a Volvo round the world campaign, will race
the Sojasun Viper at the regatta which is scheduled to involve 15 races and
which will conclude on Friday 23rd of July.
``Racing a Viper are two of the most talented young sailors in the world in
the Australians Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin,'' Brouwer said.
``They won a world youth title together and you have to be right at the top
of your game to do that.
``There are also the Sicouri sisters from Italy, Lara and Silvia, who we
will be keeping our eye on along with the Dutch sailor Thijs Visser and
Diemer Feenstra who are just 20 and 17.
``I cannot believe how good some of these young sailors are. They are really
keeping us on our toes.''
Waterhouse said despite having only limited time in the Viper, he and
Darmanin are thrilled to be racing.
``We have only sailed the Viper twice in Australia together and it was
awesome so we are really pumped about this regatta. We just can't wait to
get started,'' he said.
Team Viper is made up of:
BEL Carolijn Brouwer & Liz Wardley - Female
AUS Jason Waterhouse (18yrs) & Lisa Darmanin (18yrs) - Mixed
NED Froukje Feenstra (17yrs) & Darren Bundock Mixed
ITA Lara Sicouri (24yrs) & Silvia Sicouri (22yrs) - Female
NED Thijs Visser (20yrs) & Diemer Feenstra (17yrs) Male
GBR Chris Sproat & Rossana Jury (18yrs) - Mixed
AUS Christa Van Helden (25yrs) & Brett goodall (25yrs) - Mixed
For further information about the Viper please go to our website
www.2Bsailing.eu
-ENDS-
2B Sailing
High Performance Catamarans
Darren Bundock
Phone: +31 70 891 9400
Mobile: +31 64 614 9215
Skype: darren_bundock
Email: bundy@2bsailing.eu
Web: www.2Bsailing.eu
Twitter: 2Bsailing
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