Newport Beach’s Tyler Macdonald of and crew William McBride of Santa Barbara placed fifth overall in the 29er European Championships sailed on Lake Maggiore in Switzerland last week.
Some 154 teams representing 17 countries competed in what is the largest championship event in Europe this year. In the eight-day event Macdonald and McBride placed 13th overall in qualifying for the gold fleet and then advanced up to fifth place in the final sailing.
There were many challenging days including massive rains not seen in 30 years and very unstable wind patterns.
Two weeks ago Macdonald and McBride finished an impressive fourth place at the German 29er Championships.
Macdonald is the grandson of America’s Cup skipper Bill Ficker, and a 2011 graduate of Corona del Mar High School. This coming year he is planning to sail as a freshman at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.
