Schultheis sisters slip to second after tough day at European Championships

Maltese sailors Antonia Schultheis and Victoria Schultheis endured a difficult day at the European Sailing Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece, as they slipped to second place in the overall standings of the 49ERFX.

The Schultheis siblings headed into the day with a commanding lead at the top of the standings after the opening seven races of the competition.

However, the Maltese duo saw that advantage disappear in the tenth race when they were disqualified for a false start.

That turned out to be a bitter blow for Antonia and Victoria Schultheis who seemed to struggle to regain their composure, only managing a 17th-placing and a 19th-placing in the following two races.

At the end of the day’s racing, the Schultheis sisters were second in the overall standings on 101 net points, trailing by 20 points to Dutch duo Odile van Aanholt and Elise de Ruyter, winners of the final regatta of the day, who topped the standings on 80.1 net points.

Croatian duo Enia Nincevic and Mihaela de Micheli Vitturi are in third place on 104 points.

In the men’s 49er class, Richard Schultheis and Max Korner also found the going tough when they placed 15th in the first race of the day, then moved up to tenth in the second but failed to finish the third regatta on Friday.

That left them trailing in 31st place in the final standings with 133 points.