470 European Championships 29th June 2012

Diana Kissane/Saskia Tidey from Ireland are the newest team combination competing at the 470 Europeans, only joining forces in September 2011. They have improved their OCS in race 1, to post an 11 & 14 today.

 

470 Women – Top 10 Overall after 4 Races
1. Tina MRAK/Teja CERNE (SLO) - 5 pts
2. Annika BOCHMANN/Elisabeth PANUSCHKA (GER) - 10 pts
3. Sophie WEGUELIN/Sophie AINSWORTH (GBR) - 11 pts
4. Enia NINCEVIC/Romana ZUPAN (CRO) - 11 pts
5. Alisa KIRILYUK/Lyudmila DMITRIEVA (RUS) - 20 pts
6. Joanna FREEMAN/Katie TOMSETT (GBR) - 24 pts
7. Nadine BÖHM/Karoline GÖLTZER (GER) - 24 pts
8. Fiona TESTUZ/Anne-Sophie THILO (SUI) - 24 pts
9. Francesca KOMATAR/Sveva CARRARO (ITA) - 28 pts
10. Maelenn LEMAÎTRE/Aloise RETORNAZ (FRA) - 30 pts

 

470 Men
A British handover at the top of the 470 Men fleet after today’s two races, with Ben Saxton/Richard Mason claiming the yellow jersey from team mates Philip Sparks/David Kohler. Whilst the event is only four races in, consistency is the name of the game and Saxton/Mason are the only team to have produced all top 10 finishes so far. Conditions seemed to suit the British pair who were seventh and first in the day’s races.

 

“The wind was from a more steady direction today, less shifty, though saying that the first race it wound right on the first beat and we managed to go left,” said 22 year old Saxton with a wry smile.

“We had a nice comeback, flying past boats to get a seventh which was cool. The only thing that would have made us do better was another lap.

“In our second race we came first so we were happy. We started simple, sailed with the fleet and got faster, and it worked. I enjoyed it - it’s always nice to win.”

A touch of nervousness tonight though as they faced a protest from the Russians, Mikhail and Maxim Sheremetyev, after a boat to boat incident in race 3. But after hearing evidence from both parties, the International Jury dismissed the protest.

Leaderboards can change in a moment, and it did just that today for the Cinar brothers, Deniz and Ates, from Turkey. The pair were not quite masters of the wind in race 3 finishing 15th, which was followed up by an OCS in race 4. A resulting tumble down the leaderboard pushes them from second to thirteenth overall.

Moving up into second are the defending 470 European Champions and recently crowned bronze medallists at the 2012 470 World Championships, Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic. Marenic explained their day, “Another wild day in Largs, with heavy rain and many changes in the wind. We were 11th and 2nd today, and were not happy with the first race, and even in the second race we could have done better. We were leading, but we could not see the mark because of the rain.”

Smiling, Marenic concluded, “But the conditions are the same for everybody. We are second overall, and the Championship has just begun, with nine more races to go.”

The Swiss Olympic team of Yannick Brauchli/Romuald Hausser end the day in third.

Yesterday, Canada’s Olympic team of Luke Ramsay/Mike Leigh complained of their light wind achilles’ heel which gave them a 13, 19, in contrast to today’s 2,3 posting. Pleased with their day and move up to 8th overall, Ramsay acknowledged, “We just need to sail like this in all conditions!“

470 Men – Top 10 Overall after 4 Races
1. Ben SAXTON/Richard MASON (GBR) – 16 pts
2. Sime FANTELA/Igor MARENIC (CRO) - 22 pts
3. Yannick BRAUCHLI/Romuald HAUSSER (SUI) - 29 pts
4. Ferdinand GERZ/Patrick FOLLMANN (GER) - 33 pts
5. Philip SPARKS/David KOHLER (GBR) - 34 pts
6. Panagiotis KAMPOURIDIS/Efstathios PAPADOPOULOS (GRE) - 34 pts
7. Mikhail SHEREMETYEV/Maxim SHEREMETYEV (RUS) - 35 pts
8. Luke RAMSAY/Mike LEIGH (CAN) - 37 pts
9. Vianney GUILBAUD/Mathieu FOUNTAINE (FRA) - 46 pts
10. Antonis TSIMPOUKELIS/Pavlos KAGIALIS (GRE) - 48 pts