| ATHENS, GREECE-(22-8-2003) Six classes took to the Olympic waters on day three of the
Pre-Olympic test event and the day was not without drama for Team GBR.
Olympic gold medallist Iain Percy and crew Steve Mitchell were forced to
retire from the first race and miss the second race due to breaking their
mast on the last leg of the morning's race.
Luck did not go with team Percy/Mitchell in the first race, they had to
return to the start after they were recalled, having jumped the start gun,
and ended up playing catch up. They managed to work their way back up into
the top ten and then due to an `operator error` they managed to break the
top section of the rig.
Percy explained, `we were sailing the last downwind leg into the finish and
we were working the boat to try and make up those extra places,
unfortunately we were a bit too heavy handed and managed to snap the top
section of the mast as we tried to work the boat. It was a simple operator
error on our behalf but we are hoping to get it fixed during our lay day
tomorrow and be back on the water on Sunday.`
Difficult conditions were again experienced on the 49er course, with winds
ranging from 6-16 knots, but the British pairing of Paul Brotherton and Mark
Asquith managed to hold on to their top three overall result. At the end of
the third days racing they are lying in third place overall after scoring a
fifteenth and a fifth place. Chris Nicholson and Gary Boyd of Australia lead
the class from the Italian pairing of Piero Sibelo and Gianfranco Sibelo.
Asquith explained their day, `It was certainly another tricky day, much the
same as yesterday really. We managed to sail the first beat [upwind leg] of
the course well in both races but got it together a bit better in the second
race to finish fifth.`
In the 34 boat Laser class, which has the biggest entry list in Athens this
week, Team GBR sailor Paul Goodison managed to continue to climb up the
scoreboard. Unfortunately he could not match the form of the six times Laser
world champion and double Olympic medallist, Brazilian Robert Scheidt, who
scored a second and first, but he did manage a thirteenth and a second which
moved him up into fourth place overall. Scheidt currently leads the class
from Daniel Birgmark of Sweden.
Tomorrow sees ten of the eleven Olympic disciplines competing with only the
Star class having a lay day. The event concludes on the 28 August.
The official event website is www.athens2004.com
and further information on the Team GBR
sailors, as well as event photo's, can be found on the RYA website
www.rya.org.uk .
Results, after day 3
Finn - Lay day
1, Ben Ainslie, GBR (2,6,1,1) 10 pts
2, Sebastien Godefroid, BEL (11,7,2,3) 23 pts
3, Karlo Kuret, CRO (5,5,7,9) 26 pts
49er
1, Chris Nicholson/Gary Boyd, AUS (3,4,(18),1,11,1) 20 pts
2, Piero Sibelo/Gianfranco Sibelo, ITA (2,6,6,4,4,(15)) 22 pts
3, Paul Brotherton/Mark Asquith, GBR (10,2,7,2,(15),5) 26 pts
Star
1, Peter Bromby/Lee White, BER (6,1,3,4,(10),1) 15 pts
2, Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA ((12),2,1,7,1,7) 30 pts
3, Paul Cayard/Philip Trinter, USA ((10),3,10,1,3,4) 21 pts
GBR
13, Iain Percy/Steve Mitchell (1,4,17,6,(DNF),DNS) 47 pts
Yngling - Lay day
1, Ruslana Taran/Svitlana Matevusheva/Ganna Kalinina, UKR (1,2,6,5) 14 pts
2, Hannah Swett/Joan Touchette/Melissa Purdy, USA (3,1,2,10) 16 pts
3, Kristin Wagner/Anna Hoell/Veronika Lochbrunner, GER (6,6,1,6) 19 pts
GBR
5, Shirley Robertson/Sarah Webb/Sarah Ayton (10,4,9,3) 26 pts
470 Women - Lay day
1, Susanne Ward/Michaela Ward, DEN (3,11,2,10) 26 pts
2, Sofia Bekatorou/Emilia Tsoulfa, GRE (1,3,OCS,2) 30 pts
3, Shelley Hesson/Linda Dickson, NZL (4,14,1,15) 34 pts
GBR
10, Christina Bassadone/Katherine Hopson (OCS,4,16,3) 47 pts
470 Men - Lay day
1, Johan Molund/Martin Andersson, SWE (4,7,3,10) 24 pts
2, Alvaro Marinho/Miguel Nunes, POR (1,4,9,11) 25 pts
3, Gideon Kliger/Ehud Gal, ISR (8,3,4,16) 31 pts
GBR
4, Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield (7,12,6,6) 31 pts
Laser
1, Robert Scheidt, BRA (15,4,2,1) 22 pts
2, Daniel Birgmark, SWE (1,8,12,3) 24 pts
3, Mate Arapov, CRO (8,6,3,7) 24 pts
GBR
4, Paul Goodison (6,9,13,2) 30 pts
Mistral Men
1, Joeri Van Dihk, NED (2,2,8,8) 20 pts
2, Gal Fridman, ISR (11,3,2,4) 20 pts
3, Yuanguo Zhou, CHN (6,7,1,9) 23 pts
GBR
13, Nick Dempsey (17,9,14,12) 52 pts
Mistral Women
1, Alessandra Sensini, ITA (1,2,1) 4 pts
2, Faustine Merret, FRA (4,4,2) 10 pts
3, Lee Lai Shan, HKG (2,3,6) 11 pts
GBR
15, Natasha Sturges (9,12,(OCS)) 43 pts
Europe
1, Sarah Macky, NZL (1,13,1,6) 21 pts
2, Lenka Smidova, CZE (4,7,7,3) 21 pts
3, Carolijn Brouwer, NED (9,3,16,4) 32 pts
GBR
18, Andrea Brewster (13,19,10,24) 66 pts
Tornado
1, Darren Bundock/John Forbes, AUS (1,1,3,4) 9 pts
2, Roman Hagara/Hans-Peter Steinacher, AUT (3,3,2,10) 18 pts
3, Fernando Echavarri/Anton Paz, ESP (5,4,7,2) 18 pts
GBR
9, Leigh McMillan/Mark Bulkeley (6,14,10,6) 36 pts
|
