Ex-MAPFRE sailor Tamara Echegoyen claims world title
Echegoyen earns second world championship in the 49erFX class...
Tamara Echegoyen, a world match racing champion and previously the 2016 49erFX world champion, who sailed with MAPFRE in the last edition of The Ocean Race, secured her second world title this weekend in Australia.
With her crew Paula Barcelo, Echegoyan had to battle the British team into the 49erFX medal race before securing victory.
“We are so so happy,” Echegoyen said on the water. “Because of the Volvo Race, Paula and I started this campaign a little late; it’s a short time to try and get to the high level of this fleet. At the last worlds in Auckland we had to abandon [due to an injury to Paula]. Here we just tried to focus every day."
“Every moment it was so close and so stressful and finally we get the gold,” Barcelo said as the pair enjoyed some celebratory champagne.
Meanwhile, the reigning Olympic champion and Ocean Race sailor Martine Grael had a rare stumble at these world championships, finishing well outside the top 10 qualifiers for the medal race.