Disappointment for Jean-Baptiste Bernaz at the ILCA European Championship
First event of the season, the ILCA 7 (ex-Laser) European Championship turned out badly for Jean-Baptiste Bernaz on the complex Andora lake (Italy). After a good start to the regatta (1-3-1), the world champion 2022 failed to maintain a sufficient level of play to compete with the best.
“It’s a disappointment because I had everything in place to make a podium and why not play for the win”
The Maximois finished in 12th place (9th European). The title went to Croatian Tonci Stipanovic who won ahead of his compatriot Filip Jurisic and Australian Matthew Wearn. “It’s a disappointment because I had everything in place to make a podium and why not play for the win, he reacted. I sinned on departures. In pool, it was fine but in the finals, I lacked a bit of edge.
We knew it would be a tricky place to navigate and that my end of preparation hadn’t been perfect due to a finger injury. I cut myself with a bread knife a few days before and had the stitches removed the day before coming to Andora. Which prevented me from participating in a small warm-up regatta. I arrived with great intentions but a little behind on my planning. »
For Bernaz, however, this result does not call everything into question. “We are in the nails, we were not mistaken in our preparation this winter, but we will have to draw the conclusions and work on the departures. » He will now focus on the French Olympic Week in Hyères (April 24-30) in order to sharpen his weapons. In ILCA 6, Pernelle Michon finished 10th.
The competition was also marked by an unusual event, a strike movement by the athletes. “There was a lot of amateurism at the race committee level, Bernaz estimated. For example, we spent 20 hours on the water to do four races on the first two days. Thursday morning, we went on a little one-hour strike, it was symbolic. I’ve never seen that ! »
