Coming straight from the Pre-Olympics in Athens, were they finished seventhdespite breaking their mast halfway through the event, team Percy/Mitchellwill be looking for a good result prior to the all important ISAF WorldSailing Championship in Cadiz next week which is the first opportunity forthe British pairing to try and gain selection for the 2004 Olympic Games.

The seventy-one boat line up includes many of the worlds top keelboatsailors including double Olympic medallist Torben Grael of Brazil and crewMarcelo Ferreira who have arrived fresh from success at the 2003Pre-Olympics, as well as the double Star European Champion and SydneyOlympic Finn bronze medallist Fredrik Loof from Sweden who will be lookingfor the hat-trick at this event.

The European Championship continues through until the 9 September with onerace scheduled per day with a reserve day on the 7 September. The event canbe followed daily on the event website whereyou can see live mark roundings and a final press release will be issued bythe RYA on the last day of the event.

Results, after day 1
1, Mark Neeleman/Peter Van Niekerk, NED (1) 1 pt
2, Michael Koch/Markus Koy, GER (2) 2 pts
3, Roberto Benamati/Filippo Domenicali, ITA (3) 3 ptsGBR,br>10, Iain Percy/Steve Mitchell (10) 10 pts
18, Jez Fanstone/Luke Chapman (18) 18 pts

Source: Sacha Oswald - RYA