Sean O'Brien takes to the Podium!

The second stop of the Formula Windsurfing European Championships once again was greeted with strong winds in the seaside Latvian town of Liepaja. The 4 day event treated sailor to 9 races in winds up to 25-30 knots sailed inside the enormous Karosta harbour on the north side of Liepaja. Sailors from all over the world competed, including Australia's Sean O'Brien who finished 3rd overall behind Michal Polanowski (Poland) and Janis Priess (Latvia) who took out first and second.

Latvia has been a regular stop on the Formula Windsurfing world tour for a number of years, with this year's event taking place inside the Karosta harbour, protecting the race course from the heavy Baltic sea swell and providing a challenging and fast-paced course inside the harbour's breakwalls. Michal Polanowski was able to dominate the event, taking 5 wins out of the 9 races. Poland's Hubert Mokrzyckia was able to take 3 wins, before crashes and equipment failure dropped him back to 4th overall behind O'Brien. Estonia's Tristen Erik Kivi finished in 5th only 1 point behind Mokrzyckia.

This year's European Championships is a 3-event tour with the first stop taking place in Sopot, Poland in June and the final in Gallipoli, Italy this coming October. Michal Polanowski finished 2nd in Sopot with Hubert Mokrzyckia in 4th. Sean O'Brien was 6th in Sopot putting these 3 riders in 1st, 2nd, 3rd respectively for the overall tour leading in to the final event in Italy.