In today’s 11^th race, the main concern of the Greek sailors was to maintain their 20 point lead over the second craft. And that’s exactly what happened. At the first crossing they were 13^th, lagging by 15 seconds behind the first craft, but they managed to make up the difference and finished in fifth place, which secured the Gold medal for them. The Australian craft came first in today’s race, followed by the Danish, New Zealand and French craft.

In the 11 races of the Regatta, Sophia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa finished first in the 1^st, third in the 2^nd, were penalised with a false start in the third, and finished second in the 4^th, seventh in the 5^th, fourth in the 6^th and 7^th, 11^th in the 8^th, and 5^th in the last three races.

Final ranking after eleven races:

 

	Name	NOC	11th	Net Points
1	BEKATOROU-TSOULFA	GRE	5	47
2	WARD S.-WARD M.	DEN	2	64
3	PETITJEAN-DOUROUX	FRA	4	69
4	SESTO-REINOSO	ARG	15	81
5	McDOWELL-KINSOLVING	USA	12	94
6	ARMSTRONG-STOWELL	AUS	1	95
7	VIA DUFRESNE-AZON	ESP	8	95
8	DEKLEVA-MAUCEC	SLO	11	107

In the Star class, after today’s race there was no change in the first three placings already established after the 9^th race in the series, held the day before yesterday. The Brazilians Grael and Ferreira, Gold medallists at Sydney, won the Gold for this class, the American pair Cayard and Trinter won Silver and the Germans Pickel and Kolb won Bronze. In today’s first race (10^th in the series), the British craft was in the lead followed by the craft from the USA and Canada. In the 11^th race, the British took the lead again, the Dutch came second and the Canadians third. The Greek craft with Leonidas Pelekanakis and Giorgos Kontogouris finished 11^th and 9^th respectively and are 16^th in the general ranking with 130 penalty points.

Final ranking after eleven races:

 

	Name	NOC	10th	11th	Net Points
1	GRAEL-FERREIRA	BRA	8	5	48
2	CAYARD-TRINTER	USA	2	7	49
3	PICKEL-KOLB	GER	19	6	54
4	BROMBY-WHITE	BER	5	11	55
5	KATS-MARTENS	NED	4	2	55
6	MACDONALD-BJORN	CAN	3	3	60
7	PERCY-MITCHELL	GBR	1	1	67
8	ROHART-RAMBEAU	FRA	9	4	71

In the Yngling class, the British crew launched its final attack today in an attempt to win the Gold medal, and managed to dethrone from first place the American craft, which until yesterday had a six point lead over them. Today the British pair managed to finish 3^rd and 1^st respectively, while the Americans finished 5^th and 10^th. In today’s first race (10^th in the series) the craft from Germany finished first, followed by the Dutch and British craft. In the 11^th race the British finished first, followed by the Dutch and Bermuda craft.

The Greek craft with Katerina Giakoumidou, Eleni Dimitrakopoulou and Eftichia Mantzaraki did not finish in the 10^th race, as just after the start they had a problem with their sail, thus ranked in 12^th place, but in the last race they finished 6^th. With 80 penalty points they were placed 12^th overall in the general ranking.

Final ranking after eleven races:

 

	Name	NOC	10th	11th	Net Points
1	ROBERTSON-AYTON-WEBB	GBR	3	1	39
2	SWETT-TOUCHETTE-PURDY	USA	5	10	44
3	WAGNER-HOELL-LOCHBRUNNER	GER	1	7	44
4	THIES-BES-de JONG	NED	2	2	45
5	TARAN-MATEVUSHEVA-KALININA	UKR	6	4	65
6	BETHWAITE-KOSMALA-McHUGH	AUS	11	9	66
7	JENSEN-JESPERSEN-KIEL	DEN	8	5	68
8	THORPE-VINSEN-LAMPERT	NZL	4	11	69

In the Finn class, British Laser Olympic Gold medallist in Sydney and best sailor in 2002, Ben Aisnlie, repeated his victory of last year in the 2002 Regatta and won the Gold medal once again, proving what a remarkable sailor he really is. In today’s two races Ainslie finished 2^nd and 4^th, and these placings were enough to put him in the lead, a position he had maintained from the very beginning of the Athens 2003 Regatta. Ainslie’s formidable opponents were the Pole Kusznierewicz (4^th Olympic winner in Sydney), who won the Silver medal (finishing 1^st and 12^th today), and the Spaniard Trujillo, who, despite his weight (he is the heaviest sailor in the event, weighing 119 kg) won the Bronze medal. The rankings for the first eight placings did not change after the 9^th race in the series.

Final ranking after eleven races:

 

	Name	NOC	10th	11th	Net Points
1	AINSLIE	GBR	2	4	30
2	KUSZNIEREWICZ	POL	1	12	51
3	TRUJILLO	ESP	8	2	52
4	KURET	CRO	4	9	58
5	GODEFROID	BEL	5	8	60
6	FLORENT	FRA	9	6	72
7	NOSSITER	AUS	12	1	74
8	SIGNORINI	BRA	11	7	83

In the men’s 470 class, the Swedes Molund-Andersson struck gold, proving themselves to be quite successful… gold-diggers, as they had also won in last year’s Athens 2002 Regatta and hope – as they stated – to repeat their victory next year too, in the Athens Olympics. The Swedes today finished third, securing first place in the general ranking with 59 penalty points. The Israeli craft was the one to finish first today, with the American craft finishing second. With regard to the medals, the ‘golden’ Swedes were in the company of the British (Silver) and Italians (Bronze). Greek champions Andreas Kosmatopoulos and Konstantinos Trigonis, who, by the way are ranked No 1 in the World rankings, today finished 10^th, ending 14^th in the general ranking with 127 penalty points.

Final ranking after eleven races:

 

	Name	NOC	11th	Net Points
1	MOLUND-ANDERSSON	SWE	3	59
2	ROGERS-GLANFIELD	GBR	7	73
3	ZANDONA-TRANI	ITA	9	80
4	KLIGER-GAL	ISR	1	84
5	FOERSTER-BURNHAM	USA	2	87
6	CONTE-de la FUENTE	ARG	6	109
7	BRASLAVETS-MATVIENKO	UKR	13	112
8	ZELLMER-KRABBE	GER	18	114

In the Laser class, where, after the three races held yesterday, the Brazilian Olympic Silver medallist Robert Scheidt shared first place in the ranking with Sweden’s Daniel Birgmark, today the Swede sailor finished first in the 10^th race and, with just one race left in the series, is first in the general ranking, one point ahead of his Brazilian opponent, who finished second today, with Croatia’s Arapov finishing third. Thus, the 11^th race to be run tomorrow (the last in the series) is expected with great interest, as Birgmark, Scheidt and Arapov claim the Gold medal with equal chances. Greek champion Antonis Manolakis finished 14^th, and is currently 17^th in the general ranking with 145 penalty points.

General ranking after ten races:

 

	Name	NOC	10th	Net Points
1	BIRGMARK	SWE	1	43
2	SCHEIDT	BRA	2	44
3	ARAPOV	CRO	3	49
4	ZBOGAR	SLO	4	63
5	BLACKBURN	AUS	35	70
6	LIMA	POR	6	76
7	MOBERG	NOR	8	86
8	GERITZER	AUT	12	89

In the 49er class, the Australian craft is still ahead in the race for the Gold medal, as after today’s three races it has firmly established itself at the top of the general ranking, with a 14 point lead over the second placed British craft, with just one more race left in the series (to be run tomorrow). In today’s first race (13^th in the series), New Zealand’s craft finished first, followed by the British and Austrian ones. In the 14^th race, the German crew was the first to finish, with the British one finishing second and the Danish one finishing third, while in the 15^th race first place went to the Danes, with second and third places going to the Australians and New Zealanders. The Greek craft with Thanassis Pachoumas and Vassilis Portosalte finished 16^th, 15^th and 17^th in the three races run today, and is currently 13^th in the general ranking with 131 penalty points.

General ranking after fifteen races:

 

	Name	NOC	13th	14th	15th	Net Points
1	NICHOLSON-BOYD	AUS	4	4	2	57
2	BROTHERTON-ASQUITH	GBR	2	2	11	71
3	MARTINEZ-FERNANDEZ	ESP	6	5	5	77
4	SIBELO P.-SIBELO G.	ITA	10	23	20	84
5	WADLOW-SPAULDING	USA	12	16	7	105
6	BASSETT-SMYTH	NZL	1	6	3	106
7	SUNDBY-BOVIM	NOR	11	23	12	107
7	LUKA-LEONCHUK	UKR	8	13	8	107

In the Europe class, after today’s race (10^th in the series), there was a change at the top of the general ranking, with Czech Smidova dethroned from first place, as she finished an unexpected 25^th (out of 27 competitors) and has now dropped to 4^th place in the general ranking. The new top woman is now Norway’s Sundby, who finished first today, with Germany’s Niemann and Croatia’s Petronijevic finishing second and third respectively. Greek sailor Virginia Kravarioti finished 21^st, and as a result dropped from 16^th to 18^th place in the general ranking, with 140 penalty points.

General ranking after ten races:

 

	Name	NOC	10th	Net Points
1	SUNDBY	NOR	1	48
2	DEZILLIE	BEL	13	56
3	MACKY	NZL	7	58
4	SMIDOVA	CZE	25	61
5	GAILLARD	USA	12	71
6	CHEN	CHN	9	73
7	MULTALA	FIN	5	77
8	BLANCK	AUS	4	79

In the Tornado class, today’s race (10^th in the series) did affect things at the top of the general ranking, where Australians Bundock and Forbes still hold the lead, finishing 6^th today and coming within reach of the Gold medal, as they increased their lead from Argentina’s Lange-Espinola to 13 penalty points (from 9). First place in today’s race went to Spain’s Echavarri-Paz, with France’s Revil-Guillemette finishing second and Austria’s Sydney Olympic Gold medallists at Hagara-Steinacher finishing third. The Greek craft with Antonis Bougiouris and Dimitris Theodorakis finished 13^th, and remains in 15^th place in the general ranking with 103 penalty points.

General ranking after ten races:

 

	Name	NOC	10th	Net Points
1	BUNDOCK-FORBES	AUS	6	22
2	LANGE-ESPINOLA	ARG	8	35
3	HAGARA-STEINACHER	AUT	3	38
4	ECHAVARRI-PAZ	ESP	1	45
5	McMILLAN-BULKELEY	GBR	5	67
6	KIRILYUK-USHKOV	RUS	4	71
7	LANDENBERGER-POLGAR	GER	12	72
8	REVIL-GUILLEMETTE	FRA	2	74

In the men’s and women’s Mistral class, despite the efforts of sport administrators, it was not possible to run the two races scheduled for today in each class.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Athens 2003 Regatta, with races scheduled for the Mistral, Europe, Laser, Tornado and 49er classes.

Note: After protests have been judged, general rankings may change.

Source: OLYMPIC NEWS SERVICE