28th Delta Lloyd Regatta at Medemblik, Holland - Day 3
by Delta Lloyd Regatta press 24 May 2012 22:19 BST
22-26 May 2012
The 28th edition of the Delta Lloyd Regatta saw all its participants on the water for the first time on Thursday. However, the sailors had to wait a long time for enough wind in the water in Medemblik. It wasn’t until the afternoon that they were able to finish their races under difficult conditions.
Of the new Classes to get into the water, the Dutchman Pieter-Jan Postma started strong in the Finn Class. With his new Olympic boat, he came second twice and also obtained a third and a sixth place. The New Zealander Matt Coutts, cousin of Russel Coutts, one of the most successful sailors in the world, is 1 point behind Postma. Coutts narrowly failed to qualify for the London Olympics; Postma will be going.
For the women’s windsurfing, the battle amongst the women in RS:X remains very exciting. In Medemblik, the Norwegian Jannicke Stalstrom took back the lead from Hayley Chan from Hongkong. Chan won the seventh race, but lost her lead in the eighth race, coming seventh. Stalstrom achieved a victory and a second place. The Italian Flavia Tartaglini is currently in third place.
In the men’s RS:X, the Israeli Shahar Zubari remains well in the lead. The main threat for Zubari, who is engaged in a fierce battle for an Olympic ticket in his own country, is his compatriot Omer Sofer, who is far behind. The third Israeli Nimrod Mashiah is currently in sixth place and will have to finish higher if he wants to go to the Olympics.
The 470 Class also started at the Delta Lloyd Regatta on Thursday. The New Zealand boat belonging to Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders was clearly the best in the four races. Two wins, two second places. The Dutch couple Dirk Bennen and Anneloes van Veen sailed into third place on the leaderboard. The duo won the first race.
In the Laser Class, Rutger van Schaardenburg once again made himself comfortable at the top after eight races. The Dutchman triumphed despite little wind in both races on Thursday. His compatriot Roelof Bouwmeester came 4th and 17th and dropped to second on the leaderboard. He is already 17 points behind. The Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Bernaz is in third place.
The British Megan Pascoe took the lead in the Paralympic Class 2.4mR from the Dutch Thierry Schmitter by winning once and finishing in second place. In the Sonar Class (also Paralympic) the French team of Bruno Jourdren is in the lead.
www.deltalloydregatta.org