www.worldwatchweb.com- European Championships, sponsored by SEIKO, and held in Gdynia, Poland in July, attracted more participants and spectators than ever before, proving once again that the 49er is the rising star in the Olympic fleet.

The 49er fleet carried sails with national flags, so that the large crowds on the beach could follow their favourite teams.

The races took place in Gdansk Bay, just a few hundred meters from the beach where, on each of the six days of competition, crowds of between 3,000 and 5,000 spectators enjoyed the racing. For the first time, the mainsails displayed the national flags of each team so the spectators could follow the unfolding drama of the intense competition more easily than ever before.

Over the first few days of the Championships, 16 races were held in a wide range of wind speeds varying from just 7 knots on Day 5 to over 20 knots on Day 3. This variation of conditions provided the perfect test for the 88 crews, from over 30 nations.

Patricio Testart of SEIKO Deutschland presented Velatura watches to the gold medallists, Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh

Coming into the final Medal Race, crews from France, Austria and Italy were all in contention, with the British team of Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh holding a six-point lead over the rest. At the start of this deciding race, they took a risky line, away from the rest of the fleet, and were well behind at the first mark. However, they climbed steadily up the field to finish third in the race, thus securing the overall Championships. The Medal Race itself was won by the Sibello brothers from Italy but the French crew of Manu Dyer and Stephane Christidis had enough points from previous races to secure the overall silver while past World Champions Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes from the UK secured the bronze medal.

All the medallists were presented with SEIKO Velatura watches, as were the winners of the Silver and Bronze fleet finals. In addition, SEIKO sponsored a coaching clinic, held just before the Championship began, aimed at encouraging new teams into the 49er Class. Sailors from Holland, Malta, Russia and Bermuda attended the Clinic which was run by the very experienced 49er coach, Richard Parslow.

SEIKO has been the main sponsor of the International 49er Class since 2006, and supports the Class with both finance and equipment. SEIKO also supports the International 29erXX Class.

Source: Seiko Watch Corporation

www.seikowatches.com