420 and 470 Junior Europeans at Fraglia Vela Riva, Lake Garda - Day 2
by International 420 & 470 Class Associations 9 Aug 2017 23:11 BST
6-13 August 2017
As Argentina's Lucia Miranda laughed after her win in 420 Class race 3 today, "You need two brains and four eyes!"
Today Miranda appreciated the wise words of her coach, and better understood how apt the motto's meaning, as Lake Garda again surprised teams with winds that just weren't doing what they normally do! Take your mind or eyes away from the race track for a moment, and there will be no return.
Some teams have clearly found the rhythm of the new weather patterns on race day 2 and are out front of the pack, with others still struggling to get to grips with the challenge. So the story of the Championship on day two, and main chat around the boat park, continues to be the unpredictability of the usually predictable Lake Garda weather.
Two races for all fleets today. The 470 Men qualification series has wrapped up and the fleet advance to gold and silver fleet final series, with the women continuing their single series.
Two more races on Thursday will conclude the 420 Open qualification series, whilst the under-17 fleet contest a 12 race single series. The breeze is forecast in the morning on day 3, so an early start for the 420 fleet will see them out on course area bravo for an 0800 hours start. 470 racing kicks off at 1300 hours.
420 Open
420 European Champions Telis Athanasopoulos Yogo/Dimitris Tassios (GRE) jumped up to first overall today as they spotted the new weather patterns to claim their second race win of the series.
Great Britain's Tom Collyer/Aaron Chadwick took out a 2,2, leaping to second overall from a 58th place going into the day - in an epic upwards climb. The pair's escalation was made possible as the discard came into play after race 3, kicking off their scorecard a 54th place finish in yesterday's race 2.
"There is usually a specific pattern in the wind here, that we practised for two or three days prior to the Championship. But yesterday and today the pattern has changed a bit, but we have managed to find the new pattern and deal with it," commented Yogo on the secret they appear to have discovered.
"It's a bit different from the usual pattern, so many people can't recognize it yet," he smiled.
The Greeks are the team to beat, but Yogo does not feel any pressure, although knows anything can change. The pair is determined to stay strong and complete their goal – which is of course another gold medal.
Third to Spain's Carlos Balaguer/Anton Massanet.
420 Open Provisional Results after Day 2: (top five, 4 races)
1. Telis ATHANASOPOULOS YOGO/Dimitris TASSIOS (GRE 56371) - 6 pts
2. Tom COLLYER/Aaron CHADWICK (GBR 54536) - 8 pts
3. Carlos BALAGUER/Antoni MASSANET (ESP 55947) - 9 pts
4. Felix KAISER/Samuel STÖRR (GER 56086) - 12 pts
5. Dylan ASCENCIOS/Nick CHISARI (USA 55917) - 12 pts
420 Under 17
Italy's Tommaso Salvetta/Giovanni Sandrini end the day where they started it, in first overall from scores of 4,22 in the forty-two boat under 17 fleet. Second to France's Basile Poisso/Paul Paturle.
"It was a really good day, we took the right choices and were always in the good positions," explained Paturle about the day's 5,8 scores. "We followed the wind and it was very tricky. We are confident but know we can do better. Tomorrow we will focus on staying in the same position and not take any risks."
Third to Poland's Jakub Golebiowski/Filip Szmit, whose win in the opening race of the day did not come easy, but currently puts them on target to achieve their mission of a top ten finish.
Szmit commented, "The race was really hard because the shifts are everywhere and we need to go fast and observe the whole fleet. We led off the start and then tacked to the cliffs, where we picked up a shift and tacked to the first mark. This lake is really hard to sail because the wind is everywhere. You have to be watching, watching, watching and see the shifts. But I am waiting for the Ora," he smiled in anticipation of the renowned thermal breeze for which Lake Garda is famous."
Racing in an open fleet, prizes will be awarded to the top three open and ladies teams. Aiming to repeat the title of 420 European Ladies U17 Champions they claimed last month, at their first ever appearance at a 420 Championship, are Greece's Ariadni-Papaskevi Spanaki/Myrto Papadopoulou who sit in 6th overall.
"It's kind of difficult and we really watch the weather," said Spanaki. Acknowledging that the light winds help the girls compared to the stronger breeze that was expected on the lake, Spanaki continued, "There hasn't yet been a lot of wind, so it is a bit easier for the girls to climb on top. Here we are hoping to finish in the top three."
420 U17 Provisional Results after Day 2: (top five, 4 races)
1. Tommaso SALVETTA/Giovanni SANDRINI (ITA 55951) - 10 pts
2. Basile POISSON/Paul PATURLE (FRA 54546) - 14 pts
3. Jakub GOLEBIOWSKI/Filip SZMIT (POL 55653) - 15 pts
4. Demetrio SPOSATO/Gabriele CENTRONE (ITA 56124) - 15 pts
5. Melina PAPPA/Maria TSAMOPOULOU (GRE 55405) - 18 pts
470 Women
Turkey's Beste Kaynacki/Simay Aslan have taken control of the leaderboard on day 2, upping themselves by one place, with Luise Wanser/Helena Wanser (GER) in second. Close racing positions the teams in third to sixth on a tiebreak 18 points apiece, with Tsuf Zamet/Noa Lasry (ISR), who were the day one leaders, holding the third placed advantage.
Kaynacki/Aslan have already added their discard to their scoreboard, which was not the game plan to add a 28th to their scoreboard so early in the Championship.
"We had a bad start and then had to do penalty turns just after the start," explained Kaynacki as they fell foul of a port/starboard incident. "Then the wind changed a lot and turned left. It was not possible to gain. In the reaching we were tacking and the downwind was one leg."
The opening win of the day went to Marina Lefort/Lara Granier (FRA), with Germany's Wanser sisters leading the fleet in the next.
Defending Champions, Benedetta di Salle/Alessandra Dubbini (ITA) have edged their way up the leaderboard, climbing to 13th from 22nd.
470 Women Provisional Results after Day 2: (top five, 4 races)
1. Beste KAYNAKCI/Simay ASLAN (TUR 99) - 9 pts
2. Luise WANSER/Helena WANSER (GER 69) - 13 pts
3. Tsuf ZAMET/Noa LASRY (ISR 5) - 18 pts
4. Maria BOZI/Rafailina KLONARIDOU (GRE 216) - 18 pts
5. Yahel WALLACH/Shahar TIBI (ISR 12) - 18 pts
470 Men
The 470 men were scheduled three races today to complete the five race qualification series, but as the wind dropped they were sent back to shore, with 4 qualifiers completed. The top twenty-eight teams will now advance to gold fleet racing and a shot at the podium, with twenty-seven in silver fleet racing.
The defending Junior European Champions, Giacomo Ferrari/Giulio Calabro (ITA), advance to gold fleet racing in first overall. The Italian pair carry just a 1 point advantage over second placed Hippolyte Machetti/Sidoine Dantes (FRA).
Machetti/Dantes are still blown away by their fourth place at the 470 Worlds last month, which was not the result they were expecting, and credit to being relaxed.
"I think at the Worlds we didn't especially have a goal, and now we want to be the same here. We have to manage with our stress and when we feel good in the boat normally it is a good day for us," concluded Machetti.
Closest rivals, sparring partners and friends are Ferrari/Calabro. "They are good partners and we train with them in the winter and our are best competitors," added Machetti.
Reflecting on the day, Machetti continued, "We are happy because it was not our intention to be first before the final, and we just want to make it race after race and not think about the results. We just want good results in the top five, top seven and that is the first stage of the Championships."
Third to Ben Hazeldine/Ryan Orr (GBR).
470 Men Provisional Results after Day 2: (top five, 4 races)
1. Giacomo FERRARI/Giulio CALABRÒ (ITA 757) - 5 pts
2. Hippolyte MACHETTI/Sidoine DANTÈS (FRA 79) - 6 pts
3. Ben HAZELDINE/Ryan ORR (GBR 840) - 8 pts
4. Maor ABU/Yoav ROOZ (ISR 10) - 9 pts
5. Enric NOGUERA/Fernando DAVILA (ESP 73) - 13 pts
More information and full results on the championship Website at 2017junioreuropeans.420sailing.org