Semaine Olympique Française de Voile 2006, Hyeres - Day 2
by Corinne McKenzie 24 Apr 2006 22:32 BST
23-28 April 2006
Perfect conditions on day two of the Semaine Olympique Française de Voile 2006, Hyeres © Gilles Martin-Raget
Racing in full gear thanks to perfect conditions
No rest for the 6 racing committees in Hyères who made the most of the perfect conditions to complete 46 races on the second day in the SOF regatta.
The Easterly breeze, which was fighting its way in yesterday, settled to 15 knots in the late morning. Weakening to 8 knots later in the afternoon close to the shore on the RS:X course, the wind granted the Tornados with stronger conditions averaging 17 knots with gusts reaching 21, and nice waves. While suiting some teams like the Australians Bundock/Ashby, comfortably in the lead after a third and a victory, or the Spanish Echavarri/Paz, who enjoyed the conditions scoring a 1st and a 2nd, the stronger breeze took also its toll. Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher (AUT) dropped 10 places in the overall results from 2nd to 12th after scoring a 13th and capsizing in the second race. The Puerto Rican team of Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez didn’t finish the last race after damaging their equipment; same fate for the Russians Morozov/Russi who broke their sail or the French Morvan/Vandame who after some gear failure in the first race missed both races.
Better results for other French team of Xavier Revil and Christophe Espagnon, consistent with two five races they take the second place overall at only one point from the Germans Polar/Spalteholz in third.
Perfect results scored by Page Railey (USA) and Sari Multala (FIN) who won both races in their respective Laser radial group. Sophie de Turkheim is adding 2 second places to her score. A black flag in the first race yesterday is still counting on their results, but the three favourites could threaten the fleet leaders if they drop their disqualification tomorrow. Youth World Silver medal, Lijia Xu is keeping the lead after scoring two 6th, the young Chinese is only a point ahead of Anna Tunnicliffe who is closing the gap after a second and a 8th places. Laura Baldwin gains 7 positions in 3rd. “The level of competition has improved a lot in the last year” explains Sophie de Turkheim. The sailors coming from the Europe or other boats are catching up quickly. I can see that I still have a small edge on most of them but they are learning fast.”
With the 138 Lasers spread in 4 groups, scores are very tight and tomorrow’s last qualification races will promise some excitement. Gold and Silver medallist in last year’s SOF, Australian Tom Slingsby and Mate Arapov (CRO) were victorious in both races claiming again the top of the classification. In third place is Thomas Le Breton (3-1). Not such a good day for Paul Goodison (GBR) who broke his mast in the first race and finished 9th in the second after choosing the wrong side of the shift.
Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes (GBR) have shown their full potential today and are climbing to the top of the 49er’s scoreboard after placing 3rd, 1st and 2nd. Same results for the Danish team formed by the Hansen brothers in second place: “We are testing new equipment in this regatta and so far it proved to be good especially in the breeze.” Athens Gold Medallists Iker Martinez and Xavier Fernandez (ESP) are placing 3rd (1-6-4).
Impressive performance realised by Casper Bouman (NED) in the RS:X Men. The young Dutch is confirming his ease in the breeze with 3 bullets. “Casper was too tall for the Mistral” explains Jaap Zielhuis, Netherlands Head coach, “The RS:X in these stronger breezes is a perfect support for him. He just needs to train more in the lighter range.” At 21 years old, Casper is starting to collect good results this year after winning Sail Melbourne a few months ago. Michal Polanowski (POL) is second overall, 1 point ahead from Tom Ashley (NZL) in third.
In the women division, Marina Alabau (ESP) is replacing Zofia Klepacka (POL) in the lead of the RS:X women 2nd, in front of team mate Anna Galecka (POL) last race winner.
Many general recalls under Z flag and Black flag took their tolls on the 470 and Finn fleets.
Despite a 16th in the last race today, Yuka Yoshisako and Noriko Ohkuma (JAP) are conserving theor early lead in front of Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA). The Czech team of Lenka Smidova and Elizabeth Kratzig conserves their third position. After a difficult start yesterday, Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark (GBR) are back in their usual form. They scored a second place in the first race and won the last.
Gideon Kliger and Udi Gal (ISR) caught up from their gear failure in the last race yesterday with a win in the first race and a second. They are discarding their bad results to climb to the top position. First race winners, Gabrio Zandona and Andrea Trani (ITA) are taking second place in front of Australians Belcher/Behrens.
Three races were sailed in the Finn class. Slovenian Gasper Vincec (SLO) is claiming the 1rst place in the Finn after improving his results throughout the day (8 – 4 – 1). Ed Wright (GBR) is reaching the second position after winning the first race. Jonas Hoegh Christensen penalised by a Z flag in the first race today, adds 20% of the fleet score to his 3rd place, he is also in 3rd overall. Among the 9 Z flag starters is Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), first across the line on the 2nd race, he scores 10 points to place in 11th position overall.
Yngling World champion and last winners, the American trio led by Sally Barkow has taken the lead in the Yngling regatta, only 1 point in front of british rivals after winning the first race. Sarah Ayton and her crew won the second race. The Dutch crew of Annelies Thies, Marije Faber and Petronella de Jong are 3rd.
Thierry Schmitter (NED) is conserving his lead in the 2.4m only 2 points from Helena Lucas (GBR). Bjornar Erikstad (NOR) is in 3rd position.
Skandia Team GBR Report from Lindsey Bell, RYA
Brits hold on to 49er top slot in Hyeres
Perfect race conditions on day two (Monday 24 April) of the 2006 French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyères gave rise to a shake up amongst the podium positions.
In the 15 knot easterly breeze, Skandia Team GBR's sailors kept hold of top three positions in five of the eleven contested classes, with Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes posting four top three results - including a bullet in the third race of the day - to top the 49er table. The Exmouth duo are ahead of the Danish Hansen brothers on countback, with John Pink-Alex Hopson in ninth, Olympic bronze medallists Chris Draper-Simon Hiscocks in tenth and overnight leaders Paul Campbell James and Mark Asquith eleventh after six races.
Yngling trio Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Emma Rawlinson - replacing sister Victoria who's studying for her medical exams - had a lucrative day on the water, pushing up into second place after the day's three races, in spite of incurring a penalty in the second.
"We played it a bit risky in the second, and had a close crossing with the Kiwi boat which ended up in us doing a 720," Ayton explained. "But otherwise, we're working well and building towards the Worlds in La Rochelle which should have pretty similar conditions to here.
"It's going really well so far. As we're sailing here with Emma, Victoria's sister, we're just trying to be cautious and trying to keep it simple - so in that respect we're really pleased to have won the last race of the day."
In the Finn class, Ed Wright had an excellent day on the water, moving up from 18th overnight to a silver medal position today, while in the Laser Radial class, Laura Baldwin moved in the top three thanks to a third and a sixth from her two races.
Helena Lucas turned out another solid performance in the 2.4mR Paralympic class, scoring a bullet in her opening race before finishing behind main rival, Dutchman Thierry Schmitter, in the second.
"The first race was great, and I won quite easily thanks to some brilliant conditions, some big waves and some awesome surf downwind," Lucas explained. "The downwind legs were where I pulled out my biggest leads by just catching some good surf. In the second race I was just down on pace for some reason - not really sure why - but it was generally not a bad day!"
470 girls Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark made great gains today, posting a 2,1 to finish the day in ninth, which should be boosted even further once the discard kicks in. Pippa Wilson and Sheena Craig are also in a strong position, with a 15,4 to elevate them two positions to sixth from today's racing.
The 470 men improved on their first day's positions - Nic Asher and Elliot Willis move up to sixth from ninth yesterday, while development squad sailors Luke Patience and Chris Grube had a massive boost. The Scots-Welsh combination posted a 2,3,2 to raise them up from 75th last night to 11th at the close of play on Monday.
The Tornado course may have been gusting up to 21 knots, but Skandia Team GBR campaigners Rob Wilson-Mark Bulkeley and Andy Wright-Ed Barney continue to push for their berths in Friday's final medal race - in spite of Bulkeley taking a spill at the windward mark in the first race and leaving Wilson to negotiate the downwind leg single-handed until he could retrieve his crew from the water.
A mast breakage in the first race of the day for Laser European Champion Paul Goodison has seem him fall down the pecking order, at least until the discard takes effect, while windsurfers Nick Dempsey and Lucy Horwood have clawed their way back into contention in the RS:X class after a difficult first day. Olympic bronze medallist Dempsey currently lies in tenth, and Horwood is eleventh in the women's fleet.
More information on the Semaine Olympique Française de Voile website