After a week of high-intensity racing at the 2024 International WASZP Games, Danish sailor Magnus Overbeck of the KDY club emerged victorious, clinching the title by two points ahead of Norway’s Markus Berthet. In a reversal of last year’s WASZP European Championships, where Berthet claimed the win, the 2024 title race once again went down to the wire.
FULL RESULTS

With strong winds of up to 25 knots sweeping the final day, only two races could be completed, setting the stage for a nail-biting finish. Overbeck, reflecting on the event, said, “I couldn’t sleep last night, running through every scenario in my head. I managed to get some points on him in the first race of the day, but then he (Berthet) goes out and wins the second one. Once the racing was called off, I needed confirmation; I simply couldn’t believe it.”

Overbeck’s path to victory was far from smooth, having started the event in 15th place on day one and suffering a black flag and an 8th place finish at the start of day two. “It has been a mission to climb back all week,” Overbeck continued. “This is the big one; I needed to win this to confirm all the results from this year. It’s been the best year of sailing in my life.”

The competition was simply sensational, with just four points separating 3rd and 6th place, and the fight for the final podium spot coming down to a single point. Italy’s Federico Bergamasco delivered a stunning performance to secure 3rd overall, while Spain’s Pablo Astiazaran finished 4th. Despite a strong finish, Great Britain’s Sam Whaley narrowly missed the podium, landing in 5th place.

In the women’s division, Hedvig Doksrod found the going a bit tougher in the breezier conditions after dominating the fleet in the lighter winds. Both Marie Butler Wang and Nora Doksrod were able to claim valuable points, but it wasn’t enough to take the win off Hedvig. It was a brilliant regatta for the women’s fleet with super tight racing and 9 women making Gold Fleet for the first time. There is no doubt the windier conditions at the back end of the event pushed Hedvig back in the overall standings after claiming 5 top 10 placings in qualifying.

The 6.9m fleet racing in their own division and starting by themselves for the first time ever had a competitive fleet of 25 racing, showing the up-and-coming strength of this class. A Francesco Carrieri masterclass saw the young Italian champ win all but three of the races. Rounding out the podium were the Gieger siblings, Tommaso and Rebecca from Italy, seeing off a strong challenge from GBR sailor Ben Anderson. In the women’s, Rebecca Gieger took the win from countrywoman Olvia Castaldi and GBR sailor Alice Senior.

In other divisions, Victor Loof showed he would be a force in years to come, claiming the Junior (U18) title from Swiss sailor Micha De Weck and Canadian Andrew Chisholm.

The Youth (U21) title was one of the hottest contended, with Bergamasco taking the win by one point from Astiazaran, with Antonio Gasperini from Spain rounding out the podium.

The apprentice division again proved that the sweet spot for winning major WASZP events is the 21-39-year-old category. Magnus Overbeck won from Markus Berthet, with Sam Whaley in third. Five of the top 10 came from this category.

In the masters, Emmanuele Savoini claimed a commanding victory over Steve Forteith and Ian Fitzgerald of England. The camaraderie and culture among our masters sailors are quality. Even down the fleet, each day, they competed in their own battles and always came in with smiles on their faces.

The super-masters (over 50), was again won by Super-master extraordinaire Mikel Vazquez of Spain. followed in by Stefan Eriksson from Sweden and Daniel Goodman of New Zealand.

As we look ahead to 2025, the International WASZP Games will be held in Weymouth from July 14th to 25th, with expectations of breaking participation records with a potential fleet of 300 boats. The first glimpse of the venue will come in just nine days as the UK Nationals take place in Weymouth, with close to 100 competitors expected.