470 Junior European Championships at Fraglia Vela Riva - Day 3
by International 470 Class Asssociation 13 Aug 2012 21:55 BST
10-17 August 2012
470 Junior Europeans on Lake Garda day 3 © Davide Turrini /
www.gardafoto.it
Italy back in charge
All change at the top of the leaderboard in the 470 Men/Mixed event on the concluding day of the qualification series.
Kevin Peponnet/Baptiste Berthier (FRA) have dropped from first to third on the leaderboard and passed the leader's baton across to Simon Sivitz Kosuta/Jas Farneti (ITA), but only just. Day 3 ends on another tiebreak situation, with the Italians on equal points with Alex and George Kavas (GRE) and carrying the tiebreak advantage.
In the 470 Women fleet, two race wins from Maëlenn Lemaître/Aloïse Retornaz (FRA) pushes them up into third overall and closing the points gap to the leaders, Poland's Ewa Szczesna/Irmina Mrozek Gliszczynska.
Lake Garda's thermal wind delivered another perfect race day of 18-20 knots. The discard came into play after race 5, so lots of subsequent shuffling up and down the leaderboard.
470 Men/Mixed
The 470 Men yellow fleet took to the track first with series leaders going into the day, Kevin Peponnet/Baptiste Berthier (FRA), facing some stiff competition as the fleets were again re-seeded based on their leaderboard position from yesterday.
One of the teams giving the French a run for their money were Antonios Tsimboukelis/Alexandros Triantafyllos Bakatsias (GRE), who paced the French on the first downwind leg, with Matthew Crawford/Robert Crawford (AUS) just behind. But ultimately, none of these three could hold their line or pace and the yellow fleet race 5 win went to Clément Ikhlef/Clément Pequin (FRA).
Disappointment for Australia's Crawford brothers, Matthew and Robert, who finished the race in 17th, which will not help their target of a podium finish here and gives the pair some big hoops to jump through to climb back up. "It was a tough first race, we went the wrong way and then just went backwards from there," said Robert. "We were second at one point, but then went the wrong way in the second upwind and made a few mistakes downwind and then you are at the back door in this fleet."
In the blue fleet, Simon Sivitz Kosuta/Jas Farneti (ITA), the top-ranked team competing, and Alex and George Kavas (GRE) came head to head. The two teams were leading up the first upwind and attacking each other. Downwind and the Italians rounded the gate ahead, with the Greeks choosing the left mark, and the Italians going right to hit the favoured side and take control upwind. Into the second loop and the Italians extended and just kept on going to take the win.
"Yeh, we did two very good starts and we were first in the first part of the race and then we just covered. In Garda, in the upwind the wind comes to the first and then the others, so the distance to the second boat was big," said Sivitz Kosuta. Farneti added, "On the lake if you have a good start that is half the race."
Commenting on the Greek challenge, Sivitz Kosuta continued, "It is going to be exciting in the gold fleet, they are very fast." The Italians have been competing together for seven years and are good friends, not just sailing partners. When not racing, Sivitz Kosuta is studying architecture and has just completed the first year of his degree.
Onto race 6, the final race of the qualification series which would determine the gold and silver fleet cut, and the breeze increased to around 20 knots.
In the yellow fleet, Great Britain's Mike Wood/Hugh Brayshaw were the team to catch, with Kevin Peponnet/Baptiste Berthier (FRA) in pursuit. These two continued to the finish in the same order.
Spurred on by their earlier win, the Italians Sivitz Kosuta/Farneti were entirely focussed on reeling in the Greek team's advantage from the discard in race 5 which put the Kavas brothers first on the leaderboard. The Italians pulled some inspiring sailing, led to the first mark and generated more than a 500 metre lead at the finish – ensuring the Greeks had no chance to catch up.
Looking ahead to a possible Olympic campaign, Sivitz Kosuta said, "After the Junior Europeans we will see what we do for the next four years. There are a lot of good guys from Italy and I don't know what they will do. I don't know, we will see."
A taste of front of the fleet 470 racing was experienced by Spain's Jordi Xammar/Joan Herp today, with a third in race five. The pair have been at the top of their game in the 420 Class, winning the 420 boys' event at the ISAF Youth Worlds in 2010 and Xammar won again in 2011 with a different crew. They finished 9th at last year's 420 Junior Europeans and fourth at the 2011 420 Worlds, and the pair are now making what is Xammar's second appearance at a major 470 Championship, so they are the new kids on the block.
Expectations are realistic, as Xammar explained, "It was good racing today. It is not really too tactical a course. Here in Garda it is speed and manoeuvring. I have found the level to be much higher than I thought. We weren't too sure how we were going to do. We are happy because we have only sailed a 470 together for 15 days together here."
The seventy-nine boat 470 Men/Mixed teams have now been allocated to gold and silver fleets of 35 and 34 boats respectively for the six race final series which gets underway on Wednesday 15 August 2012.
Provisional 470 Men/Mixed Results after Day 3: (top ten, 6 races)
1. Simon SIVITZ KOSUTA/Jas FARNETI – 10 pts
2. Alexander KAVAS/George KAVAS – 10 pts
3. Kevin PEPONNET/Baptiste BERTHIER – 12 pts
4. Magnus MASILGE/Moritz KLINGENBERG (GER) – 15 pts
5. Mike WOOD/Hugh BRAYSHAW (GBR) – 24 pts
6. Clément IKHLEF/Clément PEQUIN (FRA) – 25 pts
7. Francesco FALCETELLI/Gabriele FRANCIOLII (ITA) – 31 pts
8. Dan FROYLICHE/Yoav LEVI (ISR) – 32 pts
9. Benjamin BILDSTEIN/David HUSSL (AUT) – 34 pts
10. Jan-Philipp HOFMANN/Paul KÜBEL (GER) – 35 pts
470 Women
After an overnight repair to the mast gate which almost knocked them out of race 4 yesterday and Annika Bochmann/Elisabeth Panushcka (GER) were raring to go again today, but so were the rest of the fleet.
Stylish and clean racing from the 2012 420 World Champions, Roberta Caputo/Giulia Paolillo (ITA), gave them the upwind advantage as they raced the outer loop, but Maëlenn Lemaître/Aloïse Retornaz (FRA) had faster pace and took the win, with the Italians behind. Onto race 6 and it was a repeat performance from the French, which moved them up to third overall.
"We had good starts and so it was easier for the rest of the race. Our speed was great to it was easier to control the fleet," commented Retornaz.
Their worst so far, but a great day by anyone's standards for Ewa Szczesna/Irmina Mrozek Gliszczynska (POL), who posted a 3, 5 and continue to lead overall. "There were a lot of shifts today and we couldn't feel the wind so well as yesterday. It wasn't so great a day but we are still first so it is OK," smiled Szczesna.
The secret to their leap in performance since last year has been the 2012 Olympics. "Since September we have trained really hard, because we thought maybe we could go to the Olympic Games," said Szczesna, smiling, "Maybe!" The pair are coached by Tomasz Jakubiak, who represented Poland in the 470 Men at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
As it turned out, another Polish team secured Poland's Olympic berth at the 2021 470 Worlds, with Szczesna/ Gliszczynska winning the 470 Women silver fleet. "I think we will continue for Rio 2016," concluded Szczesna.
Moving on up after today's 4, 6 scorecard are Anna Burnet/Flora Stewart (GBR), but the pair are oblivious to their overall placing. Disappointment with their first day of racing left them avoiding the results noticeboard. "We messed up our first day and we didn't think there was any point looking at it as we already knew we had to do a lot better. We decided there was no point looking until you get to the stage where you need to start looking at the people around you. We just need to sail our own race," said Stewart. The pair finished in sixth at the 470 Europeans in Scotland last month, so have capacity to up their game in the final three days.
Provisional 470 Women after Day 3: (top ten, 6 races)
1. Ewa SZCZESNA/Irmina MROZEK GLISZCZYNSKA (POL) – 9 pts
2. Annika BOCHMANN/Elisabeth PANUSCHKA (GER) – 12 pts
3. Maëlenn LEMAÎTRE/Aloïse RETORNAZ (FRA) – 14 pts
4. Joanna FREEMAN/Katie TOMSETT (GBR) – 20 pts
5. Amy SEABRIGHT/Eilidh MCINTYRE (GBR) – 31 pts
6. Roberta CAPUTO/Giulia PAOLILLO (ITA) - 32 pts
7. Anna BURNET/Flora STEWART (GBR) - 33 pts
8. Linda FAHRNI/Maja SIEGENTHALER (SUI) – 37 pts
9. Sasha RYAN/Jaime RYAN (AUS) – 42 pts
10. Nadine BOHM/Karoline GOLTZER (GER) – 49 pts
Tuesday 14 August 2012 is a lay day for all fleets. Racing will resume for the six race final series at 1300 hours on Wednesday 15 August.
The 2012 420 Junior European Championships is being hosted by Fraglia Vela Riva in partnership with the Federazione Italiana Vela, the Italian 420 National Class Association and the International 420
www.470.org/junioreuropeans