Soling European Championships - Race 1
by Editor 25 Jul 1999 20:16 BST
French opening in the European Soling Fleet Race Championships in Sandefjord Norway
The open European Soling championships started with strong winds up to 13 m/s. The sailing conditions was a little rough with two to three meter waves in open sea outside Sandefjord. 47 boats started the first day.
Some of the best sailors in the world are attending this championship. The reason for this is the last four Soling boats in the next Olympic games will be decided after the 9 races in Sandefjord. The European championships takes place from the 25th to 31st of July.
Hanz Spittzauer from Austria was the first boat after the first leg, followed by Brazil and Finland. The French boat with Philippe Presti managed to take the lead in the 2nd round. They managed to keep this position the last rounds and won the race the first day.
Spittzzauer from Austria ended second. The ex. whithbread sailor Roy Heiner ended third and Sergey Pichugin from Ukraina fourth. The winner of the last Olympic games, Jochen Scuemann, ended the first race as no five.
Other strong teams as the Canadians Hans Fogh and Bill Abbott ended no 16 and no 23 and are expected to sail better in the next races.
1 FRA 33 Phillippe Presti 1
2 AUT 123 Hans Spitzauer 2
3 NED 35 Roy Heiner 3
4 UKR 1 Sergey Pichugin 4
5 GER 311 Jochen Schuemann 5
6 BRA 68 Alan Adler 6
British Placings:
10 GBR 7 Andy Beadsworth 10
12 GBR 162 Ian Williams 12
35 GBR 147 Antony Clare 35
40 GBR 155 Gary Richardson 40
43 GBR 62 Basil Fountain 43
Event Website: www.soling99.no