On Friday the crowd at Hernesaari saw yet another European Champions conquer the podium. Both Laser Standard and Laser Radial held their Medal Races today in sunny Helsinki.

The overall winner in the Radials was China's Lijia Xu, but the European Champion's title was awarded to Evi Van Acker of Belgium. Croatia's Tina Mihelic took the silver and Spain's Alicia Cebrian the bronze.

"This was already my fourth time at the Championships, and so It feels really good to win the title. The conditions were very challenging, but I'm satisfied with my performance", told the gold medallist.

"This certainly gave my confidence a big boost. Now it's the time to get ready for the pre-Olympics in London and the World Championships in Perth, with the Olympic Games being my primary goal", Van Acker continued.

Van Acker was sixth in the Medal Race. Xu crossed the finish line third and Mihelic eighth.

Laser Standards' leader, Tonci Stipanovic picked up from where he left off yesterday. The Croatian won the Medal Race, leaving no chance for Jonasz Stelmaszyk of Poland to catch him in the standings. Stelmaszyk was third today and second overall.

"I won also last year, but this time it feels a bit different, since I've had a lot of friends here to support me. I sailed well and did my best during the whole competition", said Stipanovic.

He looked very determined indeed, especially in the final start. He was punished for repeated fanning and thus had to make a 720-degree penalty turn, but somehow Stipanovic still managed to top everyone else.

"We now have a tough race among the Croatian team for the places in the upcoming Olympic Games. The whole national team performed well here, hopefully I will be able to earn my spot in London", Stipanovic concluded.

Austria's Andreas Geritzer finished second in the Medal Race, which sealed his bronze medal.

Today it was also time for the 49ers to start competing. After three races, Austria's Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch are in the top spot. Australia's Steven Thomas and Nick Brownie are second, trailed by Peter Krüger Andersen and Nicolai Thorsell of Denmark.

470 and Finn classes will begin their Championships on Saturday. You can follow live tracking at openeuropeans2011.com, starting at 11 o'clock.

8/7/2011 16:08