With only three points
separating the top three winners, the 2008 International Contender European
Championship regatta, held this year in Tuscany, was a thriller. Navigating home country waters, Giovanni
Bonzio clinched the European Champion title with 21 points, just one point
ahead of current World Champion, Australian Marcus Hamilton. Former World
Champion Italian sailor Andrea Bonezzi took home the bronze with 24
points. With 92 competitors from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, the championship regatta ran
from May 31 to June 7 at the PuntAla Camping Resort in the Tuscan Maremma. The
field was so large that the competitors were split into four groups for the
qualifying rounds. The roster of international sailing talent ensured that the
race was close, even to the final moments. Only when Gernot Goetz won the final
race, followed by Versari, with Bonzio in third was Bonzio’s bronze secured.
The International Contender
fleet heads to the 2008 World Championships in Canada in August, then to Denmark in 2009 and Brisbane, Australia in 2010. The next European
Championships will be held in La Rochelle, France in 2010.
