This year's Raceboard European Championships were hosted by the Andalucian Sailing Federation Centre, Puerto Sherry, in the beautiful Spanish city of El Puerto de Santa Maria. The 41 sailors from 10 countries could enjoy some of the best sailing conditions the place has to offer, as 14 races for the women and 15 for the men were conducted in winds ranging from 8 to 24 kts and temperatures of around 26^oC. It's no wonder that EL Puerto is the winter training destination for many national windsurfing teams.

The atmosphere of the class can be seen at each event, where families and friends from all around the world are competing together and against each other. The most recognizable of the Raceboard families in El Puerto would be the Manchons, with the Spanish couple Paco Manchon and Maria Antonina Dominguez and the Blinnikkas, having strong representatives in Male, Youth, Senior, G-Master and Female divisions.

It was Aleksandra Blinnikka from Finland, who came on top, winning the European Championship. "It wasn't easy," as she says. "When I saw the entry list at the start of the regatta, I said to myself that it would be good to be in the top 4. The competition was really hard. I'm so happy to have won," she added. Second and third were the local sailors from Spain Maria Antonia Dominguez and Pilar Lamadrid Trueba.

In the men's fleet it was Nicolas Huguet from France, who dominated all the way, winning 14 out of the 15 races. "It was really fun. Especially today with the strong wind," he said. "I had the equipment before the races and I had time to prepare for the event. I could feel I was better with each start," he said after the final race. Just as in the case of the women, the second and third places in the overall men classification went to the Spanish windsurfers. Toni Coloma was second and Alex Buchau third.

Next up for the Raceboard class is the Masters World Championships in Cagliari in October. The regatta will be held alongside the Techno293 Worlds, which will make this combined event one of the biggest held this year, with as many as 500 windsurfers expected to show up.

Waiting is part of the game

Conditions play a vital role in windsurfing and anybody, who has ever raced knows that waiting is part of the game. Today was one of those days. The forecast showed the wind dropping and the Race Committee led by Luky Serrano decided to start the races with no delay. This decision proved right and two races were conducted before the sailors were sent ashore to wait. The next race was not planned before 16:00. And we waited.

Exciting Racing in El Puerto de Santa Maria

We're set for some exciting racing to the very end. The ladies are fighting hard and despite the small fleet of just 7 sailors, the podium places have not yet been secured.

We've got a Youth, Senior, Grand Master and Veteran in the top 4. It's great to see the Youth fighting with Veteran sailors as equals. The more experienced ladies often come on top of this confrontation, just like today when Maria Antonia Dominguez won two of the three races and is now just one point behind Aleksandra Blinnikka from Finland.

Third is the best Youth Pilar Lamadrid Trueba and fourth the only GM Ilona Grinberga. Can't wait to see what the next days will bring, especially when the second discard is in place after 12 races.

Stay tuned for today's video where our ladies share their views on the class and Raceboard racing.

Another good rivalry to follow is the father-son battle between the Blinnikkas. Juha and Daniel are just one point apart in 6th and 7th overall. You could feel the intensiveness very well today. Pumping most of the way.

The top three have not changed with Nicolas Huguet close to securing his title with another three wins. Many things can still happen, but it will be hard for the two Spanish sailors, Toni Colomar Torres and Alejandro Buchau, in second and third to reduce the point difference.

We plan to have some info straight from the press boat tomorrow. Keep a lookout on our twitter feed and website for txt, photos