Down to the wire!

The Techno293 has been here in beautiful Tallinn, Estonia, for a fantastic and very busy week of action at the 2021 European Techno Championships, in what is very much the home of tech, and of Techno293. 230 young windsurfers from 21 countries made their way here for the 2021 European Championships, which for the first time included a division for the even younger sailors who couldn’t wait to get involved, an Under 13 fleet with boys and girls racing together.

We’ve had all kinds of conditions here this week, not surprising given the location, and it has been a real test of the competitors’ abilities and energy, also of the Race Committee who have managed to organise and encourage all the fleets out to complete a full week’s programme of 15 races for most despite losing a whole day to the weather. Big up to the whole organising team here in Tallinn, and thanks for the welcome that has been as warm as the weather has been varied. We’ll be back.

It’s not all about medals, it’s about being together, on and off the water, meeting people and sharing an experience, and there’s none better than the Techno 293 experience judging by the stats. Well-done to everyone who came and here is the roll of honour, the podiums for the 2021 European Techno Champions.

U13: 1st, start to finish leader, Italy’s Pierluigi Caproni, behind him and surging into 2nd Russia’s Aleksandr Fokin, followed by Latvia’s Viljams Preiss, 3rd.

U15 Girls: 1st, another start-to-finish winner, Poland’s Maria Rudowicz. Another strong-finishing 2nd place, this time Russian rider Uliana Vonogova who finished ahead of Spain’s Azul Sanchez-Vallejo in 3rd .

U15 Boys: Another late surge in the last 2 days saw Turkey’s Artun Senol jump into top spot by 3 points, ahead of Israel’s Peleg Rajuan, with long-time leader, Italy’s Tiberio Riccini dropping to 3rd.

U17 Girls: The overnight top 3 all had a bad final day, but Czech Republic rider Kristyna Chalupnikova hung on to take the honours, 2 points ahead of Russia’s Polina Ovchinnikova, with Turkey’s Naz Ennis racing up to take the 3rd place with a great late run.

U17 Boys: It was total domination by Italy’s Federico Pilloni, who swept to 1st place in front of Greek rider Petros Kontarinis, 2nd. Billy-James Coll-Tulloch, Spain, just hung on to his 3rd place.

Plus Women: Turkey’s Merve Vatan was steady as a rock all week, taking 1st place, beating Russia’s Daria Bannaya into 2nd with Greece’s Marina Cherouveim grabbing 3rd by a single point.

Plus Men: From the first race there was only ever one winner, experienced Italian Davide Antognoli. He finished well ahead of his compatriot, Alessandro Graciotti in 2nd. Big up to Britain’s Boris Shaw who battled through a bad start to his week to claim 3rd place.

Another great week of Techno293 racing comes to an end. Congratulations to everyone, champions, competitors, organisers, Race Committee, coaches, families, and friends, for making this yet another Techno success story.

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