Ginevra Caracciolo of Italy and Karol Krupski Teterycz of Spain have claimed the 2026 ILCA Under-21 European Championships titles in the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 classes respectively, following six hard-fought days of racing in Bodrum, Türkiye. Kutsal Güneş Kurnaz of Turkey also impressed, winning the ILCA 7 Under-19 title and finishing seventh overall.
The 2026 ILCA Under-21 European Championships & Open European Trophy attracted 184 sailors from 39 countries between 9 and 16 October. The event was organised by the B.B. Bodrumspor Club Sailing Department, the Turkish Sailing Federation and EurILCA, bringing together a talented international fleet on the Aegean coast.
Conditions on the final day delivered competitive racing, with the women completing a full 10-race series in around 10 knots of breeze, building to 12 to 15 knots for their closing race. The men’s Gold fleet fell one race short of the same total after two general recalls in the third race of the day left insufficient time before the 16:00 cut-off.
Caracciolo, the reigning champion, had acknowledged before the start that a medal would be a bonus but made no secret of her ambitions. “I really, really want to win. I trained a lot to achieve this goal,” she said. “I tried to stay clear-headed and not let the emotion overwhelm me.” Her composure clearly paid off as she sealed back-to-back European titles.
Krupski Teterycz dedicated his championship to his coach, his team, the Spanish Federation and his family. “It was a super hard race, right to the final moment, but we managed to make our best decisions on the water, and we take the European Championship home,” he said.
Congratulations to the organisers and all participants on a superbly run championship. For full results and information on the event, visit the official event website.
Report by Agustín Argüelles. Photos by Thom Touw for EurILCA.
