It was double delight for Brits Andy Brown and Matt Barton as they scooped silver and bronze medals at the iQFOiL European Championships.
In a stellar display of racing, Brown and Barton fought their way out of the quarterfinals and semifinals to face Poland’s Pawel Tarnowski in the three-athlete final. Tricky, light winds in Cagliari, Sardinia, met the finalists but it was Tarnowski who got off the line ahead in the winner-takes-all slalom climax.
Tarnowski clung on to take the top spot, Barton and Brown traded places as the race went on, with Brown just pipping Barton to take silver. Brown’s result is a career best and follows on from victory at the 2022 Princess Sofia Regatta. It’s also a welcome return to the podium for Barton, who was runner-up at the iQFOiL World Championships in 2021.
“I came into the medal series in eighth and managed to fight my way through the quarters and semis to get to the final,” said Barton, from Bury St Edmunds.
“I’m pretty pleased – it was a hard day with lots of restarted races but I kept it together and had a good day’s racing. I’m stoked to be on the podium alongside my fellow Brit Andy. I’m really proud of what I managed to achieve and it’s a great way to start this new Olympic cycle.”
Brown, from Glasgow, added: “I’m incredibly happy,” Brown said. “I had to fight back from a slow start to the week, so to finish second is amazing. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a result like this – the Europeans and Worlds have alluded me for some time – so I’m delighted to tick one off.”
The British Sailing Team’s Finn Hawkins was seventh overall, with young gun Duncan Monaghan coming home 12th, his best result in the senior fleet to date.
In the women’s fleet early leader Islay Watson had to settle for tenth overall after finishing seventh in the quarter finals, while Alice Read was 15th overall.
