Close racing on second day

Star: Close racing
The gap between the first and fourth position in the Star class (23 entries) is only three points, with the Swiss Olympians Flavo Marazzi and Enrico De Maria (fourth in Athens) leading. They finished sixth and took the bullet in the last race, in which the breeze dropped to 5-8 knots. De Maria: “It was difficult to find good pressure. In the first half of the race, the whole fleet stayed close together and in the second beat some teams went extremely left and others tried their luck in the middle.” The Swiss sailors were leading and went initially to the right to cover on the Italians Negri/Viale and the Dutchmen Jorissen/Veldhuizen. Da Maria continues: “The pressure came from the left, so we tacked.” They managed to remain in the lead and finished first. According to Marazzi, the Delta Lloyd Regatta so far has been a good training for China: “We had choppy waves and light conditions, so that is perfect.” Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams from New Zealand are second overall, followed by the Brazilians Scheidt and Prada with just one point difference. The current World Champions Kusznierewicz and Zycki (POL) had the best results of the day with a second and fourth.

Yngling: Mulder/Faber/Witteveen in first position
Despite the Dutch selection process within the national team of three boats, it was former Olympian Annelies Thies (fourth in Athens) and her crew members who scored the best results of the day. Thies, Wierenga and Heerema climbed to a seventh position overall after finishing 3-5-4. The Dutch trio Mandy Mulder, Marije Faber and Merel Witteveen took over the lead, but had an issue with the French girls at the gate in the first race. The Dutch Yngling got disqualified, but made up for it by winning the next race. Coach Paardenkooper: “It was obvious that our racing style fits this type of conditions with unsmooth water and a light breeze.” The Norwegian team of Siren Sundby, Olympic Champion in the Europe, Fredriksen and Koefoed holds on a second positions, followed by yesterday’s leaders Schuemann/Bleck/Hoepfner (GER).

Tornado: A long day
It was a long afternoon for the Tornado sailors. The first two races were abandoned due to exceeding the time limit. The breeze was too light to reach the top mark in time. At 5 PM, the third starting gun was fired and this attempt succeeded. The British McMillan and Howden took the bullet and grabbed the lead. Not for long, because the current World Champions Bundock/Ashby (AUS) showed once again that consistency pays. They finished second, which lifted them to a first position overall. The Frenchmen Revil and Espagnon are third.

49er: New leaders
The fleet of 45 colourful genakers on the run was a beautiful view. The 49er crews showed some close racing in today’s three races. The Portuguese Lima and Andrade had the best score of the day with a series of 3-8-1. They climbed on the leader board to a second position overall, tied on points (33) with the British duo Morrison and Rhodes. The Italians Sibello brothers took over the lead with 19 points. Yesterday’s leaders Warrer and Kirketerp from Denmark dropped to a XX position overall.

470: Steady leaders
“We like these conditions”, said 470 helmsman Nicolas Charbonnier. He and his crew Olivier Bausset, representing France, have a comfortable lead of seventeen points after five races. After a sixteenth place in the morning, the Frenchmen took the last two bullets. “We feel really confident in tactics and boat speed under fifteen knots”, explained Charbonnier. “In the first race we made a bad decision just two hundred meters before the upwind mark. We let the Americans cross to the right and they were far ahead of us.” The French answer to this disappointing result was two wins. “We had a bad last start on the middle of the line and had to tack. We got a lift and went to the right, whereas most of the fleet sailed on starboard tack. The wind came back and we were leading from the first top mark until the finish.” The current leaders in the 470 Men will represent their country in Beijing, which will be their Olympic debut. Charbonnier: “I started to sail the 470 in 2000 and changed crews in 2002. I asked Olivier, who is a good friend of mine. He finished his study biology and I was on the French team in the America’s Cup, so we started again in 2005 and fulltime since November 2006.”

Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA), the numbers one on the ISAF World Ranking in the 470 Women, sailed steady in the top with a series of 4-2-7. They have a lead of five points over the fleet of 28 competitors. Micol: “The wind was shifty and the racing very close, but we had a good day.” The Italian girls performed strongly in the last months: “We were second at the 2008 Worlds and second at the 2007 Europeans, so in August we qualified for Beijing. Now, we are training and testing.”
Laser Standard: Closing the gap
The Laser Standard is with 117 entries by far the biggest class in the Delta Lloyd Regatta. After two racing days, the spread between the first and third position is only one point. Tom Slingsby (AUS), world’s number one on the ISAF ranking, leaded until the last race in which he finished 10th: “There was no wind anymore and the water surface was completely glass. The race committee decided to continue and things did not go my way.” Current World Champion and last year’s winner does experience strong competition: “There is plenty of strength in the fleet. If you are back in the pack, it is quite hard to come back.” Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) had a six point lead yesterday, but he initially dropped on the leader board and climbed again after finishing third in the final race. Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) is third, tied on points (18) with Tom Slingsby.

Anna Tunnicliffe lost her lead to Gintare Volungeviciute (LTU), who performed strongly with two bullets and a second.
RS:X & Finn
Today, Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberge had to give up on his lead in the RS:X Men class. He started with a fifth place, but lost the battle in the second race in which he finished 20th. Thanks to the discard, he could hang on to a second position behind Julien Bontemps from France. In the women fleet, Marina Alabau (ESP) is still heading for an overall victory. And so does Gasper Vincenc in the Finn.