Italy's Lisa Vucetti and Vittorio Bonifacio claimed the 470 Junior European Championship title in Nida, Lithuania, just one week after being crowned Junior World Champions. The back-to-back titles confirm the pair as the standout junior crew in the class.
Vucetti and Bonifacio led the regatta from the opening races, carrying a 10-point advantage into Monday's medal series. Two second-place finishes in heavy rain and 10–12 knots sealed the title.
"It feels very, very good. It was a tough week because I had some back pain, but we managed to keep the lead every day and even increase it. In the end we sailed two good medal races, finishing second in both, so we're really happy with our performance this week and throughout the entire season," said Vucetti.
Bonifacio pointed to the pair's chemistry on the water as a key factor. "If someone had told me a month ago that this would happen, I probably wouldn't have believed it. It feels amazing. We have great communication on board, good speed, we feel confident with the boat and the sails, and we simply trust what the boat is telling us."
The medal racing was disrupted early when several boats crossed the start line prematurely in race one. The Croatian and German crews returned to restart correctly, but the British team did not and received an OCS penalty.
France's Lomane Valade and Julien Bunel won that opening medal race, keeping their podium hopes alive. Ukraine's Sviatoslav Madonich and Yelyzaveta Vasylenko finished third in race one, then recovered from a poor rounding at the first mark in race two to hold on for silver overall.
"It was a bit stressful, but we prepared ourselves well before today. We had difficult conditions with heavy rain and strong wind, but we sailed an amazing first race. The second race was super tough, we rounded the first mark well behind, but we managed to recover and secure second place overall," said Madonich. Vasylenko described it as a relief as much as a celebration. "I'm incredibly happy and it's hard to describe my emotions. This is only our second championship together, so we're really proud of what we've achieved."
The result carried weight beyond sport. "It's especially important for our country at this moment. We're proud to represent Ukraine and to raise our flag on the podium," Madonich said.
Germany's Amelie Wehrle and Riccardo Honold had a rough start to the medal series, picking up an early start penalty that left them seventh in race one. They won race two to finish two points clear of the French crew and take bronze. "Winning the second medal race was a great way to finish the championship, although it was a very hard fight. We're really happy to come away with third place overall," said Honold. Wehrle credited a clear division of roles: "Ricky was in charge of the upwind tactics, which allowed me to focus on steering and boat handling. Everything worked really well."
Both Vucetti and Bonifacio and the Ukrainian crew also claimed medals in the Under-21 category. The French team of Swan Berier Joyet and Aïnoa Phillipe Sasiain completed the U21 podium in 11th place overall. In the U19 category, Germany's Amelina Jäger and Caspar Fischer took gold, Simon Prot and Juliette Peyre (France) silver, and Maya Rotter and Jasper Hoschka (Germany) bronze.
The fleet now heads to the 470 World Championships in Japan.
