420 & 470 Junior Europeans at Zadar, Croatia - Day 2
by Tony Mapplebeck 12 Aug 2008 14:45 BST
Racing in the 420 & 470 Junior Europeans at Zadar, Croatia © Josip Kneževiæ
British & Greeks crowd the Italians at the top, while Israeli, Dutch and Italian teams lead the women
The qualifying races for the 420 Junior European Championships were completed yesterday, with the full six-race series sailed in the Zadar Channel, Croatia. Ben Saxton & David de Boltz (GBR) led the fleet from Michael Stavrou & Ioannis Orfanos (GRE), and Federico Maria Maccari & Rocco Vitali (ITA) were in 3rd overall. Gil Cohen & Adva Kremer (ISR), Silver medallists at the recent World Championships in Athens, led the women, with Nina Keijzer & Annaloese van Veen (NED) 2nd and Camilla Marino & Claudia Soricelli (ITA) in 3rd.
Vasilis Papoutsoglou & Akylas Drougkas (GRE) expressed satisfaction with the courses today, although the length of the races remained somewhat less than is usual for 420s, at about 38 minutes, said Akylas. The first race had been in some 10 – 12 knots, which had risen to 20 kn in the last race. “It was shifty, but not a lot”. Although they had thought they had won the first race, they found that they had been black flagged, but they came back again in the second race to take 2nd, and were “happy”. Teammates, Michael Stavrou & Ioannis Orfanos confirmed, “this was good, a better course, with a fairly consistent, stronger wind. This is a good place for sailing, but different to the Worlds”. How so? “Here, in the heavier wind, the younger boys have a hard time”.
The British ended the day with three teams in the top six. James Rusden & Joe Williams had a 1, 2 in the last two races of the day. James said that it was good to have scored the 1st, “good sailing…..longer course, shorter lines and two hooters – all good”. He mentioned that the standard of racing was less strong than at the Worlds, although still high; “it is easier to hold your own off the start line and to come back from behind if you drop”. Teammates, Ben Saxton & David de Boltz, produced a 2, 1 in the last two races, giving them pole position at the end of the qualifying series. ”The key for us was qualifying with ‘counters’”, said Ben. “a good start (to the Championships), we are happy”, added David.
With a consistent score line, Federico Maccari from Milano, sailing with Rocco Vitali of Como (ITA), said, “I feel good, and calm. Happy, with good races. My goal is not to do a bad race! With 11 races, we want to carry on in this way. We were 7th in the Worlds and 4th in the Europeans last year, so we want to improve on these”. Said Rocco, “it was crazy in Athens, here a little easier; we like the longer course, with shorter starts and moving to the black flag quicker”.
Finally, we talked with Nina Keizer and Anneloes van Veen (NED), who are running 2nd women at this stage. “It is very difficult with the guys here. The Oscar flag is up, and it is crazy and fast. You have to get used to this; it was very different with only girls at the Worlds. For us the shortened start line is not good”. But you are doing well…. “We were 2nd at the Junior Europeans last year, that is not good enough this year!”, exclaimed Anneloes.
The fleet now take a lay day (while the 470s have a further race to complete) and the Final Series starts in earnest on Tuesday.
Results after Day 2:
1 Ben Saxton & David de Boltz (GBR) 16pts
2 Michael Stavrou & Ioannis Orfanos (GRE) 20pts
3 Federico Maria Maccari & Rocco Vitali (ITA) 21pts
4 James Rusden & Joe Williams (GBR) 24pts
5 Tsamis Sotiris & Christoforidis Iasonas (GRE) 27pts
6 Owain Matthews & Tim Saxton (GBR) 30pts
7 Francisco Sucari & Francisco Renna (ARG) 32pts
8 Julian & Philipp Autennrieth (GER) 35pts
9 Gonçalo Santos & Lourenço Pinto (POR) 39pts
10 Max Trippolt & Julian Meister (AUT) 39pts
11 Vasilis Papoutsoglou & Akylas Drougkas (GRE) 44pts
12 Giovanni Meloni & Alessandro Gemini (ITA) 44pts
13 Federico Cattaneo & Fabrizio Nardi (ITA) 47pts
14 Theofanis Kavvas & Evangelos Vasilios Mitakis (GRE) 47pts
15 Sacha Pelisson & Nicolas Rossi (FRA) 48pts
Leading Women:
17 Gil Cohen & Adva Kremer (ISR) 52pts
24 Nina Keijzer & Annaloese van Veen (NED) 64pts
28 Camilla Marino & Claudia Soricelli (ITA) 69pts
41 Maria Voulgaraki & Danae Paschou (GRE) 96pts
42 Federica Wetzl & Marta Parladori (ITA) 101pts
More information on the event website.